Danny's Redemption
by Dream's Abyss
Summary: Some things just shouldn’t be changed, and some things can’t be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Slashy hints now present... if you squint. Anonymous reviews accepted.
1. Prologue: Setting The Stage

AN: Hi

AN: Hi. I'm new to posting here, though technically I've been reading off of ff.n for about 7 years now (geeze I feel old). This is the first time I am sharing publicly anything I have written. I do have a beta reader, but any mistakes are entirely my own. Please tell me so I can fix them.

If any character is too OOC, please tell me how I can fix them. In other words I'd appreciate constructive criticism, maybe some reviews to tell me where my weak points are hopeful grin.

AN2: This particular chapter begins during The Ultimate Enemy. It will more or less follow cannon events (even if not mentioned) up to and including Reality Trip.

Disclaimer: I own nothing from Danny Phantom or Sky High. I am making no profit off of this. I own nothing you recognize.

Title: Danny's Redemption

Author: Dream's Abyss

Rated M for future content (see summary)

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Prologue: Setting the stage

In his tower, Clockwork humored his guests, the Observants. While they claimed to have news of a powerful and dangerous ghost, they refused to explain more until he watched what they wanted him to see.

From his Time Viewer, Clockwork focused on a scene set ten years into the future. He identified the location as Amity Park and catalogued the differences between the present one and this future version.

Amity Park, a seemingly peaceful metropolis surrounded by a shield, outside of which can be found the grimness of a destroyed world—presumably destroyed by this powerful and dangerous ghost. Valerie Gray, the sole active protector of Amity Park from ghosts, patrolled the city and examined the ghost shield towers to make sure they were fully operational. She visited tower after tower, she scrupulously checked the state and condition of each tower and purposefully reported back to the headquarters with a dual purpose before moving on to the next one: to give a verbal report as to the status of each tower, and to allow her father Damon Gray to know she was alive and relatively unhurt with the simple act of reporting in.

Clockwork watched as Dan Phantom taunted Valerie before destroying the world's strongest ghost shield with his Ghostly wail. Soon after the shield was destroyed the Fright Knight ambushed the future Valerie. Largely unnoticed by the major combatants mass chaos broke out among the citizens of Amity Park as they each fought each other, yet still there was no chance on the large group of people becoming a mob to get to the underground ghost-proof safe houses. That last observation proved to Clockwork more than any other the seriousness of the situation.

Clockwork continued to observe as Dan invaded and began to methodologically destroy each of the city's defenses one by one. For some he used his ectoblasts, and others he used his newfound Ghostly Wail, and for still others he preferred simple intimidation tactics. What he did not have time to destroy himself he allowed his minions to maintain until he could get to it.

"Now do you understand?" questioned one of the Observants haughtily.

"Yes. Danny Phantom grows up to be the most evil ghost on the planet," stated Clockwork with his back to the trespassers in his lair. Turning around suddenly he snarled, "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You are the master of time, Clockwork. Isn't it obvious?" the first Observant asked.

"To save the future, Danny Phantom must perish!" the second Observant interrupted.

"He is too dangerous to be allowed," stated the first Observant. "He must be destroyed. We charge you with this task, so that he may not grow up to being one of the world's most evil ghosts."

* * *

A battle raged above an establishment called the Nasty Burger, where six people were bound to a vat of Nasty Sauce that was quickly approaching the critical temperature where it would become explosive.

Clockwork watched as Danny defeated his not-so-future self, but at the expense of the last of his ghostly energy. He realized Danny could not go ghost, and froze time at just the moment before the explosive vat of sauce combusted in a near atomic reaction.

"The Observants look at time like they are watching a parade. One thing after another, passing by in sequence right in front of them," stated Clockwork smugly in response to Danny's astonished and questioning look, "I see the parade from above: all the twists and turns they might—or might not take." Clockwork winked at Danny.

"You knew this was going to happen. All of it," stated Danny in wonder, looking at his _living_ family.

"Everything's the way it's supposed to be. And here we are with you, a fourteen-year-old child, risking everything to save the people you care about."

"Time in!" And with those two words, Clockwork reset time to hours earlier, before Danny had a chance to take the test he originally cheated on that put him on the first steps down the slippery slope to evil.

"You've given everyone else a second chance, why not you?" With those words clockwork left Danny to make his own choices that would determine his future.

Clockwork watched in approval from his lair as Danny went to his teacher's desk and confessed to almost cheating on the Career Aptitude Test.

* * *

Back in Clockwork's ghostly lair, the Observants protested verbally but fiercely angry. The first exclaimed, "You manipulated the boy, you influenced his choice—"

The second interrupted anger obvious in every syllable, "That's a direct violation of the protocol of temporal displacement! In other words—"

Together, outraged, "You cheated!"

"True, I cheated. But I assure you his choice was his own."

"Because of your intervention, we and the council name you guardian of Phantom—both the younger and the elder who now exists outside of time because of your machinations. You are responsible for what they do, especially the younger since he has such potential," stated one of the Obervants. Both turned in unison to leave, somehow giving the simultaneous impression of imperiousness and two children stomping off to sulk that their was not followed. Before the last Observant left completely he stopped and said, "Clockwork, we still expect you to destroy the evil Phantom. The Ghost Council will be discussing your punishment for trying to defy us."

"Potential indeed," chuckled Clockwork to himself. "More than you know."

* * *

Time held many secrets. Within time's flow were many secrets yet to be discovered, some that were never to be discovered, and some that awaited the appropriate finder before revealing themselves. That is for everyone except Clockwork. He prided himself as the only being to whom time completely surrendered itself. Because of this unconditional surrender, he was capable of playing the ultimate "what if" game in any reality that existed in time, and many that do not.

One thing that he remained consistently unaware of was the domain of his brother-in-spirit—the only person, being or creature that Clockwork considered an equal. The same regard was held in reverse.

It was because they both held each other in high regard that his brother came to confront him, rather unexpectedly for Clockwork… though he should have expected it.

"Clockwork, you know you're not supposed to do anything with the time stream that would interfere with my domain," came a bodiless voice from a corner of Clockwork's castle.

"I can only offer my apologies, brother. It was necessary to avert a terrible future for both mortals and non-mortals alike," replied Clockwork. "There was no time to request your permission—"

"Time! You're made of time—"

"Be calm, brother. The Observants came to me with a request and wanted it begun right then. They would not have understood, nor tolerated a request to visit you," explained Clockwork. He continued with barely discernible amusement, "especially since I did not intend on following their instructions in the first place if I could help it."

"Clockwork, the balance must be maintained," whined the first speaker as he materialized from a shadowed corner. The figure wore a black cloak that hid any identifying features, suddenly his voice turned hard, "I understand that you have been given guardianship over the boy." It was not a question, but he waited for Clockwork's assent before continuing, "I give you eighteen months, no more, to fix things on your end. After that time—and I won't guarantee that I won't move sooner either—I _will_ do what I need to."

The cloaked figure hesitated before turning to leave. His voiced turned soft, "Brother, I will do my best to hold off as long as I can… I'm not sure how long that will be exactly, but it probably won't be much longer than a year—it technically _shouldn't_ be any longer than a year." And with a barely perceptible "good luck" he was gone, leaving no trace of his presence.

Heeding his brother's warning, Clockwork began searching for ways to save is newly appointed ward.

* * *

Hidden in the clouds, somewhere over the United States floated a technological marvel. Some might have thought it was a private facility where only the most secret of experiments were tested given that the technology was year ahead of anything publicly available. In fact it was a school called Sky High, where children of superheroes went to learn to use their powers wisely and appropriately to eventually be beloved heroes of their own standing.

This was where Clockwork's search took him. It was at this location that Daniel would have the best chance of not just surviving his fate, but of thriving.

The name of the head of the school was Angela Powers, or rather Principal Powers. Clockwork searched for her through his time viewer and found her in what would be a rather spartan office except for a few knickknacks scattered through the room.

"May I have a moment, Principal Powers?" questioned Clockwork interrupting her from her paperwork.

His deep voice interrupted her concentration on some paperwork. Startled, but recovering easily, Principal Powers looked over Clockwork's unusual appearance. "Yes? What is it that you have come for?"

"I have come to request a late enrollment to this establishment for a hero in the making. I would like to enroll him for the next school year. He would be beginning the Sophomore year."

* * *

That's it for the prologue. Tell me what you think. Please review.

Most of the dialogue is taken from the episode The Ultimate Enemy; like the title says, this is just setting the stage.


	2. Chapter 1: No Rest For The Wicked

AN: Hello, all. I have returned with more— (ducks flying vegetables) Hey! Those would do you better if you ate them rather than throwing them at me. No, really I wanted to thank everybody who reviewed. It is nice to know that there are people who enjoy your work.

My story is kind of starting off slower than I originally planned, but better that than having a poorly written or rushed story. I am doing my best to make this a good a quality as possible. I have too much respect (and sympathy) for my readers to put out junk—plus my muse Sinoe (whose name means "mischief" or "bane" in Classical Greek) would flay me alive if I did. You have her to thank for this story since she wouldn't get out of my head until I began working on it. As always, any mistakes you see are mine. Please tell me about any you might find. Anyway, for those of you who like the story… enjoy. Please, read and review. I can't improve my writing if nobody tells me what is wrong. I mean content as well as grammar here. Constructive criticism is appreciated very much

AN2: I forgot to mention this last time, but I want to thank silverspirit737 for beta-ing the prologue and this chapter as well. I also want to give credit to her that she mostly wrote the first (two?) paragraphs that come just before Clockwork talks with his brother. My other beta's profile name is Akaste9, or can also be called The Personification of Madness and Insanity. Insanity for short. Anyway, enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note.

Chapter 1: No Rest For The Wicked

It was a bright and early Saturday morning. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and Danny was sleeping the sleep of the just. He just enjoyed the fact, unconsciously of course, that there was no school that day and no ghosts either. Daniel Fenton (Danny to the people who knew him), just finished taking the makeup CAT the day before and was exhausted. The fight with his evil future self the week before had exhausted him emotionally and physically. He had trouble recovering from the physical exertion even with the help of his ghost powers. He had to fight the past week just to stay awake. Just the stress of trying to deal with everything had been giving him a headache that steadily built over the past week. Just the fact that one major stressor in his life was gone was enough to make it go into remission. All in all he had been pretty busy.

Clockwork almost regretted having to wake Danny up, but there was much to do and he only had a limited amount of linear time to do it in. He had considered taking Danny out of time—but in the end decided to leave that as an emergency backup plan in the even that Danny proved to be difficult to teach.

While contemplating the best method to wake up the young hybrid, Clockwork continued cycling through his forms. First he was a ghost in his prime, then a child, next an old man stooped over with age. The cycle of metamorphosis repeated itself in no discernible order, apparently uncontrollable. The ages simply shifted from one to the other as implacable as the tides.

By Danny's bed was a clock. When the numbers changed from 5:59 to 6:00 the clock shrieked into the morning air. Danny rolled over, squinted at the clock and raised his hand to press the snooze button.

"Five more minutes," pleaded Danny in a moaning, sleep-clogged voice.

"I'm afraid not, Daniel. It is time to get up," replied Clockwork.

At the semi-unfamiliar voice, three things happened simultaneously. Danny immediately awoke, rolled over to the opposite side of the bed where the voice came from, and powered up his hand with an ecto-blast to be ready for an attack.

"Clockwork? What are you doing here?" questioned Danny. "Wait a minute. What time is it? Isn't it Saturday? Why is my alarm on? I turned it off yesterday. Why didn't my ghost sense wake me up when you came in here?" By the time Danny uttered the last question, he was both confused and indignant.

"I am in a pocket on non-time through a manipulation of temporal fabric that would currently make your head hurt if I tried to explain it," Clockwork replied. "In other words the reason you ghost sense did not go off is because I am not really here."

"But you _are_ here. I mean, how can I have a conversation with someone who isn't really there?"

Clockwork merely smiled in answer. Danny groaned in frustration and muttering to himself about cuckoo time ghosts and began to climb into bed to go back to sleep.

"Not just yet, Daniel. We have a long day ahead of us."

"First of all it's 'Danny.' I refuse to answer to any other name such as 'Little Badger', 'Daniel,' 'Young Daniel,' or most recently 'Dan.' The only time anyone gets to call me Daniel is when my mom is mad at me and has to pull out my full name to show how much I am in trouble. Second, I don't know what you're talking about. I fully intend to sleep in 'till one then spend the rest of the day hanging out with Sam and Tucker. Now, goodnight, er, -morning."

"I cannot let you do that. There is too much to do," Clockwork protested. He came fully into the time stream, setting off Danny's Ghost Sense in the process, to block Danny's retreat to the warm blankets.

With a defeated sigh, Danny asked curiously, "Okay, I'll bite. What do you mean, and why does it involve me?"

"The ghost council has decreed that I am to be your ghostly mentor and guardian. This means that I have until the third anniversary of your Death Day to teach you the true history of the world and ghost zone not the useless junk they teach you in schools. I am also required to teach you ghost customs, laws, rules, and everything required for you to be a successful ghost. This tradition is older than the place you call the Ghost Zone. As it is we have already lost nearly half a year's time. And for part of that time in the relatively near future I will be unavailable for reasons it would be unwise to disclose at this moment."

"Why you?" Danny stopped, thought about what he just said and how it could be interpreted before continuing hurriedly, "Not that I have anything against you it's just, why did they pick you out of all of the ghosts in the ghost zone especially if you can't teach me for the entire time?" A thought sprang into Danny's head and shanghaied his mouth, "Hey, who was Vlad's ghostly mentor?"

Clockwork laughed under his breath. "I was chosen because of my involvement in changing your timeline. They wanted me to kill you so you would not become the evil Dan of the future. As for Vlad, his third Death Day had passed before he became a regular presence in the ghost zone. He had to learn things the hard way. There are things he still doesn't know. Some things he discovered on his own, some that he learned through others, others that he will never learn because he did not have a mentor, and still others that he is striving to learn. He is very intelligent and observant, it was only moderately difficult for him to adapt, but nevertheless he will never be as good or knowledgeable a ghost as he could have been if he had a mentor. Now, do you have any other questions before we begin our mentor-mentee partnership?"

"Yeah, how do ghostly mentors get assigned normally?"

And so the morning continued in this vein: Danny asking questions, and Clockwork answering them forming the beginnings of a bond that would hopefully help in the future. By the end of the morning, Danny's head spun with new information.

* * *

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Please use that (not-so-)pretty button on the bottom left to review. Constructive criticism would also be appreciated. Did Danny and Clockwork seem in character? If not, if you are able to pinpoint what was off please tell me. Heck, tell me if I did a good job keeping them in character anyway. 


	3. Chapter 2: Let The Lessons Begin

AN: I originally wanted to get Danny into Sky High by Chapter 3. Hmm. It doesn't look like that is going to happen. Anyway, enjoy and please review at the end of the chapter. For those of you who read chapter 1, I revised it and posted the revised portion on 03/26/07. If you read it before that Monday, I suggest you read it again. I made some important changes. Of course, some of them weren't important so if you could pick out the important changes (at least one) you get a virtual cookie—if you _can_ figure out why it is important, well you get a baker's dozen of virtual cookies. :-P

AN2: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. They make me feel happy, warm, and fuzzy inside—so please read and review.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 2: Let the Lessons Begin

Danny stared miserably at the impossibly large file Clockwork gave him. It listed everything he was supposed to learn to be a successful ghost.

"How am I supposed to learn everything you are supposed to teach me if we really only have two-thirds of the time we are supposed to have? I'm not exactly a genius. There _is_ a reason I'm a solid C student."

"You are a solid C student because you do not apply yourself. You might not be a genius, but you still have a great deal of potential. Before the accident you made a habit of tapping into almost none of it. After the accident you only applied yourself to mastering your ghostly abilities and maintaining your C average. You still have a great deal of untapped potential. Had you been as bad as you claim you claim, you would not have been able to even manage that amount of maintenance," responded Clockwork serenely. "Granted you only learned under extreme duress, and only when you could rely on no one else to teach or guide you, but you managed with a minimum of effort.

"A prime example is how quickly you mastered your ghostly abilities. Most new ghosts take at least a year before they could control their basic abilities such as intangibility and invisibility."

"I only do so well because Sam and Tuck are great friends and they help me make sure everything gets done. Or at least enough gets done so that I don't fail," Danny snapped defensively. He didn't even realize he was insulting himself.

Clockwork shook his head and replied, "You rely on them as a crutch. Yes, they _do_ help you, and yes you can do far better with them than without them. But you still could be much, much better than you currently are. Now, would you like to begin with the history of the Ghost Zone, or its customs and traditions?"

"I guess if those are my two choices, we could do—Wait a minute!" A thought jolted in Danny's head. "That was kinda sneaky; you didn't answer my first question. How are we supposed to cram three years' worth of information into two years?" questioned Danny. "Oh yeah, less even because I still have to keep up with my human life too you know. I can't spend all of my time learning about ghost stuff."

Clockwork's voice was warm with affectionate pride. Sending a gently prideful smile in Danny's direction at the way Danny caught his evasion, he answered, "Very good Danny. You need to be alert to attempts to distract you and throw you off track. Along with teaching you what is necessary for being a ghost, I will do my best to teach you to be a better warrior—or as the modern term used to day: Hero."

"Really? Cool! I—wait, you did it again. Would you please stop trying to distract me?"

Still chuckling, Clockwork said, "Have you forgotten that I am The Ghostly Master of Time? I can stretch the moments for you."

"Huh?"

"I will manipulate time so that we have a dozen years or more if we need it to study before the third anniversary of your Death Day—"

"Oh, okay then. Oh! Could you do the same so I could work on my homework and still have time to hang out with Tuck and Sam between fighting ghosts?" asked Danny hopefully.

Clockwork looked at Danny with narrowed eyes showing his irritation. He gathered his thoughts carefully before answering, "I would ask that you do not interrupt me. If I see that you are truly applying yourself, then I might consider it as a reward. As I was saying, I am capable of stretching time for us if we need it. The time limit often becomes a formality in any case. It exists for cases where the two in the mentoring relationship dislike each other. In that case the ghosts must cooperate perforce and what is needed to be done is still done. In many cases the ghosts become friends or at the very least allies. If the mentor is a good one, then he or she will introduce the new ghost to other inhabitants of the Ghost Zone to form other allies among the many denizens."

Clockwork stopped abruptly and looked at Danny. "You might as well ask," he sighed. "You won't be able to properly concentrate on what I say if you don't."

"How did you know—? Never mind, why do you say 'denizens', why don't you just say 'ghosts'?" queried Danny confusedly, resigning himself to the feeling. He had a feeling that he was going to be confused a lot in the near future.

Hiding a smile, Clockwork continued his lesson. "Let's just say even if I were not a time ghost, I would play poker against you any day." Ignoring Danny's outraged spluttering, he continued, "The name 'Ghost Zone' is a misnomer. There are more than just ghosts here. When this pocket of reality was created nearly fifteen-hundred years ago…"

Clockwork continued explaining the origin of the Ghost Zone, and why it was created. Thus began their lessons together.

* * *

Several hours later Clockwork was still lecturing. 

"Perhaps that is enough Ghost Zone History for today," stated Clockwork noticing Danny's glazed expression. "Were you even listening to me there at the end?" he questioned.

Danny's face took on a sheepish expression, "Eh, maybe."

"Never mind, we will review later," sighed Clockwork disconsolately. "Next time when your mind starts to wander, please just tell me. I don't talk just to hear myself talk. Now, did you have any questions about what you _did_ listen to?"

"How can the Ghost Zone be only three thousand years old? It seems like it should have been there forever. How can ghosts and humans get along together?"

Clockwork gave Danny the evil eye. "You only listened to the beginning of the lecture?" he asked incredulously.

"Well… I was trying to figure it out," excused Danny.

Clockwork mentally adjusted his training technique and went on to answer Danny's question. "They can't really. That is why this zone was created. The gods couldn't control the ghosts. We had several gods in charge of various living aspects, and gods in charge of different aspects of the dead, some redundant. There were no gods for those in the in-between state that never died all of the way in the first place." Clockwork paced his lair, getting into the lesson. He even started waving his arms and staff around to emphasize certain points.

"The gods congregated together and chose one family, this family was fairly large and a disproportionate percentage had magical ability, all of the members of the family who had magic were fairly powerful as well. The gods ordered this large and powerful family to get together and create a separate reality from the natural one.

"Every part of this zone is intrinsically bound to the living one," continued Clockwork jabbing his staff in the general direction of the door of his lair that led to the rest of the Ghost Zone. "Also, to capture as many ghosts as they could, the family included every non-human supernatural entity in the spell. The so-called Ghost zone is filled with more than just ghosts. I will introduce you to some. They would make good allies." Here Clockwork paused to assess Danny's attention span.

Satisfied that he still had Danny's attention he continued, "Now, if you have noticed, there are no recent stories of the gods' exploits. That is because in order to keep the barrier intact, they cannot have as much of a presence as they used to have. The greater gods all agreed to withdraw from us until they can find among their number one who can act as a god to those who are neither alive nor dead."

"You mean I don't have a god?!" came the distressed cry.

"As a ghost, no. However, when you are human you still can follow whichever god you are called to."

Danny, however, hardly heard Clockwork's words from the shock that he didn't have a god he could reliably call upon.

"What about Thanatos, or Hades? Shouldn't they—"

"No," interrupted Clockwork gently. "Thanatos is the god of death, and Hades is the god of the underworld and death. The ghosts that went to the underworld first _would_ be under Hades' control. There are other gods too, but they also only have dominion over the ones that went to the underworld. Because these ghosts are already dead they cannot fall under Thanatos' jurisdiction. Since they do not reside in the underworld and have never been to the underworld none of the other gods really have any power over them or for them."

He knew that he would get no more into Danny at that time, so he told him in a gentle voice, "Come back this evening, Daniel. Take the time to assimilate what you have learned this morning. I expect you to be here directly after dinner with your family."

Numbly, Danny left, his mind whirling through a portal Clockwork made for him that led to his room.

* * *

Danny walked down the street from Fentonworks to the Nasty Burger to meet up with Sam and Tucker for lunch. They agreed to meet him there after he had apologized and begged forgiveness for not meeting them at the arcade that morning. He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice that he arrived at his destination. 

"Danny! Over here," called Sam, his best female friend. She was dressed in her trademark purple and black plaid skirt and black shirt.

"Hey, man. What's up? You don't look too good. You look like you've seen a ghost," said Tucker, Danny's other best friend was a "technogeek" and was easily amused at bad jokes since he cracked up at his own pun. "What did you want to tell us? And, why did you flake out on us this morning. Not cool, man."

"I said I was sorry," moaned Danny. "The reason I couldn't meet up with you guys is because Clockwork showed up this morning. He even woke me up at the ungodly hour of six o'clock this morning."

"Harsh," sympathized Sam.

"That's not the worst part," complained Danny. "For the next two and a half years minimum I'm supposed to take lessons from him by order of the Ghost Council on how to be a ghost. This includes the history of the Ghost Zone, its customs and famous denizens. I didn't even know there was a Ghost Council!"

"Ew, extra lessons. Sucks to be you," Tucker drawles before taking a bite out of his Nasty Buger.

"Thank you for your unending support, Tuck," Danny snorted dryly. "I will forever be in awe of the overwhelming support you gave me in my time of need."

Ever-observant, Sam cut in with her own opinion. "As bad as that sounds, Danny, that doesn't sound bad enough to make you look like you did when you came in. What's really bothering you?" questioned the ever-observant Sam. She furrowed her brows in worry as Danny's pensive mood came back.

"It turns out I don't have a patron god anymore," brooded Danny.

"Well you can use mine. I follow Hekate," said Sam. "She's the goddess of witchcraft, ghosts and necromancy."

"Wait, I thought your family followed Thanatos, the god of death. How can you not have a god?" questioned Tucker confusedly.

"Ok, maybe I do have a god, but only when I'm human. When I'm, you know," he leaned over quickly and whispered "a ghost, I don't have a patron god. Clockwork was telling me that unless a ghost has been to the underworld, they don't have a god they can call upon. As things stand, when I'm my other me no god can help me if they wanted to when I'm in trouble." As Danny continued speaking he became more and more despondent. His voice became flat and he slouched further and further down his seat.

"Well," said Tucker in a falsely cheerful voice trying to change the subject, "what else did you and CW talk about?"

Danny took the question in the way it was meant and pushed his depressing thoughts away. "We talked about a lot; I'm supposed to go back after dinner this evening so he could tell me more." Danny went on to tell his two best friends as much as he could remember about what Clockwork told him surprised that he could remember so much when he was sure he wasn't really paying all that much attention.

* * *

Hint: Reviews provide excellent motivation. 

What do you think? Keep watch for the next chapter. I didn't mean for the whole god thing to come up. This story is taking a life of its own, I didn't mean to add in the whole god twist. This information may or may not be important, it depends if I can subdue my muse. Also, I might or might not have the next chapter ready by next Monday. School is picking up in preparation for finals.

FYI, in true Greek mythology, no ghost existed unless they were allowed to come up from the netherworld. I'm trying to stay as true as possible, but I'm also taking artistic license with a lot of the information. So, the moral of the story is don't take this information and believe it as true. If you want the real facts go do your own research. A good place to go is a website called THEOI PROJECT. You can find it at theoi(.)com


	4. Chapter 3: Hindsight is 2020

AN: I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review.

AN2: The Pieling made a good point and I wanted to address it. I don't plan on having the gods be a large part of the story. The fact that I included them is kind of significant, but possibly only to me. If my muse doesn't hijack my story, then they should only be mentioned in the same way that they have already be mentioned. I don't plan on making this a religious fic, or having religious themes except as far as it has been taken. There won't be any active praying or going to temples. Feel free to review if anybody has any other concerns.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Warning: Spoiler/mentions for "Fright Before Christmas" and "Lucky in Love".

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 3: Hindsight is 20/20

Danny sighed, contemplating his past lessons with Clockwork while flying absentmindedly through the Ghost Zone, or the Otherworld as Danny began to think of it. "After all, it doesn't only hold ghosts," mumbled Danny to himself.

He was eager to get to Clockwork's lair as they were supposed to be doing something different that day.

Over the past month, Clockwork lectured, drilled, and otherwise forced Danny to learn about the Otherworld. He had to learn about the different parts of the Otherworld and what kind of beings that lived in each part. They were not nearly done, but they covered enough to let Danny know that the Otherworld was huge, and if he had tried to continue to create a map of the "Ghost Zone" with Sam and Tucker, it would have been as futile as attempting to map the starry expanse… in three dimensions and in scale. Not technically impossible, but not really accomplishable in a mortal lifetime.

Considering how vast the Otherworld was and how relatively small the ghost portion of it was, it was pure serendipitous luck that Danny's parents' Fenton Ghost Portal actually opened up to the part where ghosts resided.

Danny's mind wandered out to the other part of his lessons with Clockwork. He visibly cringed, unconsciously tightening his hands into fists. It wouldn't have been so bad if Clockwork had kept that part of the lessons to only going over his parents' inventions, how they worked and what they did. It was bad enough to listen to his dad blather on about ghosts and the various ghost inventions the one time, but to be forced to listen to it over and over and over again, on top of watching them design and build them, being forced to understand what they did and how they worked was just over the top in Danny's opinion.

Because this part was so intensive they had only gone over the two of his parent's inventions, the most basic of inventions and the most useful: the Fenton Thermos, and the Fenton Ectogun. Clockwork said he was saving the more difficult ones until Danny had the basics down.

But still, if the lessons had stopped at that, they would have been bearable; mildly irritating, but bearable. The part that Danny hated the most about his lessons with Clockwork was the way Clockwork made him go each and every ghost fight he had ever been in and critique his performance before during and after each fight. If he didn't critique to Clockwork's exacting standards, he had to repeat each fight until he could. He didn't stop at the fights with the humanoid ghosts either, he had to critique his performance with the animal ghosts too!

At first Danny thought that they were starting from the present and continuing on, but he soon realized he was wrong. He should have figured it out just from the fact that Clockwork was so thorough with having Danny critique both humanoid and animal ghosts, but when they had time, they also would go over his past ghost fights to do the same, starting with his first fight with the Lunch Lady.

A month had already passed and they still hadn't caught up!

Danny knew if he were honest with himself, he would admit that the part that he really hated about those lessons was the way he had all of his faults and flaws shoved into his face on a nearly constant basis. Clockwork _said_ that watching his pre and post fight performance helped him with his cover identity—and Danny could admit to himself that it _did_ help, but he also had a sneaking suspicion that Clockwork was trying to warn him to behave better toward his friends. There was nothing he could point at and say, "there, _that_ is what gives me that feeling" but Danny had been learning to trust his instincts, and the klaxons were going off on this one.

It shamed Danny to see how he would treat his friends after a fight, especially whenever Paulina showed up. Clockwork was persistent about getting him to see that, though in his own Clockwork-ey way.

Danny sometimes wondered if he would have fallen for Kitty's trick when she overshadowed Paulina if he had already been taking lessons from Clockwork at that time.

With that thought came the end of Danny's woolgathering as he spotted Clockwork's time-oriented lair. Dreading the coming conversation and critique about Danny's latest ghost fight, he steeled himself and went into the other ghost's domain.

* * *

The fight with the Ghost Writer was in its own way brutal, yet at the same time one of the least truly malicious fights Danny had ever been in. It was because of this fact, perhaps, that made this critique so hard for Danny. 

During the critiques Danny had a certain cliché pop into his head, and was beginning to hate the phrase, especially whenever one of his more… spectacular moments showed on the screen: hindsight is 20/20.

Of course he shouldn't have let his anger run away with him. Of course he shouldn't have assumed that any part of the Ghost Zone was uninhabited just because he couldn't see anyone. Of _course_ he shouldn't have assumed that destroying the Ghost Writer's keyboard would have stopped the story—if there was nothing he had learned it was that a ghost's powers are unique and if they can they will try to surprise you.

Squirming in guilt, he tried to explain his actions to Clockwork, "Well, you see my parents always have this huge fight around Christmas time…" Danny trailed off as he tried, and failed, to explain his actions without making himself look like a selfish moron. Thinking quickly, he burst out, "Well, why didn't you warn me about the whole ghosts-have-a-permanent-truce-on-Christmas deal?"

"Why have you not taken the initiative to ask about traditions of the Otherworld last lesson when I let you have extra time to do as you whished?" questioned Clockwork with an enigmatic smile as he floated closer. "As I recall you took the time to leave early instead of learning as much as you could about your new world." Danny's expression became dumbfounded. "Take this as a lesson to always use your resources wisely and completely—"

"I know, I know. 'Waste not, want not'," groaned Danny. "I'm getting really tired of these clichés. Why is everything a lesson with you?" cried out Danny in frustration and leftover embarrassment from his behavior toward the Ghost Writer. "You could have warned me!"

"I allowed you to have your run in with the Ghost Writer because you seem to learn best from personal experience. I thought that embarrassment would help be an incentive to pay closer attention to my lessons…. And, the Ghost Writer is vengeful, not vindictive. Perhaps this experience will further teach you to not let you emotions take control and to be a little more cautious. The entire situation was not truly threatening to you except perhaps to your pride."

"I can't believe you! Just because you are the ghost of time you think you can do whatever you want to everybody else. We aren't your puppets! Maybe we should call you Puppet-Master or Shadow King, since you try to rule everybody's life from the shadows!" A dam had broken in Danny. For the past month he had taken whatever Clockwork dished out to him. He might not have been gracious about it, but he still did not complain.

"Maybe I wouldn't have had to manipulate you if you would put more effort into our lessons and actually _try_." Clockwork's own frustration became more evident as he continued speaking, though his expression still held that carefully controlled expression. "You are self-serving and selfish! You would come here only grudgingly and put forth a minimal amount of effort. You are wasting our time!"

"Time!" exclaimed Danny, getting up into Clockwork's face, "You are made of time! What do you have to worry about?!"

There was a moment of embarrassed silence. Both had been on their best behavior during their lessons and this was the breaking point. What they said wasn't as bad as it could have been, but neither did they mean to start yelling at each other. "Perhaps we should give ourselves distance from each other to calm down. Your lesson is postponed until next time."

"Yeah," mumbled Danny, "next time." He fled.

* * *

If Danny didn't have the self-consciousness of a teenager he would have been bouncing along the walls of Clockwork's lair in his eagerness, probably even literally. They had been training together for months and the week before Clockwork said that Danny was ready to form his own lair. After the Ghost Writer incident Danny began to take his lessons with Clockwork more seriously. Their relationship had been rocky for weeks afterward, but now their relationship was better than Danny's relationship with his extended family. All this meant, though, for Danny's training was that it had been progressing better as Danny was no longer unconsciously grudging his visits to Clockwork. 

Lairs were supposed to represent something about the ghosts that owned them, especially when the ghosts were new and unable to manipulate the energies as consciously as they would learn to do later. Typically a ghost's first lair was the best representation of their current character or personality than in later years. It was only later that an established ghost learned to manipulate the lair's energies to shape it, and thus the lairs of older ghosts usually reflected the obsessions of their owners instead of their personalities.

* * *

Hint: Reviews help drive an author's muse. 

I'm sorry about the lateness of this chapter. I had finals, moved and started a new job. Not really good excuses, but not bad ones either. I also revised the previous chapters. No changes to the story. The chapters were just edited to have more showing instead of telling.

In the next chapter is the invitation. What did you think about that fight between Danny and Clockwork? That came out of nowhere, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Its gotta be tough having a mentor that can see into the future and can change things so they go the way he wants.

The closest person to guess what Danny's lair would look like will get a preview of the next chapter before it is posted.


	5. Chapter 4: The Schemer

AN: Peeks out into her audience Hi, sorry the update took so long. I seem to be having less free time during summer vacation than I do during the school year. I split this chapter into two, so the actual invitation is in the next chapter. So, what was chapter five is now chapter six. I am working on the story whenever I can, so do not fear. As always, any and all mistakes are mine. If you see any, please tell me so they can be fixed. I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Happy Independence Day to all in the US. Please read and review.

AN2: Ha-chan, you did not leave me a way to reply to your question in your review, so here is the answer. Sky High comes in on this chapter a little bit, and even more in the following ones. And, yes, it is necessary. The reason won't be apparent until later (much later) in the story if my muse doesn't decide to give me a mental wedgie and hijack my story completely away from me.

Warning: Spoilers for un-aired episodes. I'm trying to incorporate bits and pieces of what I can of future Danny Phantom episodes (from season 3). Not everything since not everything fits into my fic, but just enough will be included to keep the two intertwined. Obviously the information will not be entirely accurate as they episodes have not yet been aired, but I will try anyway.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 4: The Schemer

"Where are we going, Clockwork?" asked Danny looking curiously at his mentor. "We left the ghost section of the Ghos—I mean Otherworld ages ago."

"Have patience, Danie-Danny. We have almost arrived. Look ahead. There is our destination."

When Danny looked ahead, he saw an island of ice floating in the green expanse of the Otherworld. Danny wondered aloud, "I wonder what kind of being lives there. Clockwork, do they have any abilities or do they just have to live in that kind of environment?"

After their fight during the Christmas season, Clockwork and Danny talked about their mutual explosion at each other. One of the things that came out of the fight was that Danny agreed to genuinely try harder in his lessons while Clockwork promised in turn to do his best to not seem so much like a "fortune cookie"—Danny's words, not his.

After they came to that agreement, Danny's lessons progressed rapidly and finally the week before, Clockwork said Danny was ready to meet a few other citizens of the Otherworld. Actually he said that Danny knew enough about Otherworld etiquette that Danny probably wouldn't embarrass him in front of the other denizens, all the while the words were so coated in sarcasm that you could practically see it dripping off the words in thick gooey globs between them. Still, coming from Clockwork, that was a glowing commendation.

"The Yeti live there, Danny. They thrive best when living in temperatures that would leave most beings frozen. They are capable of noteworthy ice powers and are able to create and manipulate it at will. The degree of which depends on their level of power and amount of study and discipline." Seeing Danny's confused expression, Clockwork gave a grimly amused smile and rephrased, "The more powerful they are, _and_ the more they have studied, the better they can create and manipulate ice." He noticed that the area that they were to land held a delegation of important individuals. "Remember what I taught you Daniel," warned Clockwork softly to Danny, falling back into formalities in his anxiety. Danny opened his mouth to reply but had no time as they had just arrived and were being warmly greeted by the apparent leader of the group.

"Greetings, Ancient One and greetings to you as well Great One. Our clan has been looking forward to your visit for weeks. Come and be welcome in our hospitality," he proclaimed loudly.

Confused, Danny leaned toward Clockwork and whispered, "Ancient One? Great One? What the heck, Clockwork? I'm guessing that you are the 'Ancient One', but why am I the 'Great One'?"

"They gave you that title after you defeated Pariah Dark, and freed them from his second rule. It is a symbol of their eternal respect for you."

"We have brought out the Artifact as you requested, Ancient One. We are prepared to instruct your pupil in its use as soon as you both have rested from your journey. I, Frostbite, will lead you to where it is being held."

"Artifact? Instruct!? Clockwork!"

Smiling amusedly, Clockwork stated, "We have to start with a point of commonality somewhere. I was already on good terms with these people. Since they had something that will help me instruct you in what I believe to be important for you to know, I had a legitimate reason to ask for their aid." After a moment's thought, he continued admitting, "This will set a precedent for others. Once others see that you are meeting with people not your own and do not fight with them, they will begin coming forward to meet you themselves. Technically I am only allowed to do things to further your learning while I am your mentor. I have no control over whether other denizens of the Otherworld wish to meet you or not."

Glaring balefully, Danny said, "You have plots inside of plots, don't you?"

Clockwork only gave his enigmatic smile and followed Frostbite.

* * *

Danny had to admit, meeting Frostbite and his people was pretty fun. They had awesome abilities. He wished he could do some of the things Frostbite's people could do. He was especially envious of their ice crafting ability. It seemed like a nice ability to have. It didn't look too hard either.

The thing that Danny liked best about their visit was the infini-map. It was a self-updating map of the entire Otherworld and anything that touched it on the mortal side. This included things in the past (though trying to understand how it could touch parts of the mortal side at points in time before the Otherworld was created gave Danny a headache).

Frostbite promised to teach Danny how to use it since he was the "Great One." All Danny needed to do was remember was not touching magical artifacts that he didn't yet understand…

He nearly reached out and touched it twice already, in the past half hour. If Clockwork hadn't been there, who knows where Danny would have ended up. Apparently the map linked to the mortal realm by taking advantage of natural weak points between the Otherworld and the mortal realm.

The barrier went through cycles. There have always been some weak points in the barrier, but there have been times when the barrier only had comparatively few natural portals, and at other times so many that the barrier was just there to keep the two realms from collapsing together into one... kind of like pillars, they are not solid like walls so they don't keep one part of the room separate from another.

All in all, even though the trip turned out to be another lesson, Danny had been really enjoying himself.

* * *

Jazz Fenton was a conscientious student. She always worked hard to achieve her ideal future. Everything she did was with her goal in mind of being a professional psychologist…. Well, and keeping her brother in good health considering his… extracurricular activities. She had two wants, really. One was that she could be sure that her brother would be properly taken care of in her eventual absence when she goes to college next year. The other was that she wished her family was more supportive of her dreams. Oh sure, her parents _say_ they support her, but then they go off chasing some ghost story. Well, if she couldn't have one, she would do her best to have the other. She just needed to figure out how to manage it.

"Jasmine, I have a proposition to give to you."

Jazz gave a tiny scream of surprise and whirled around only to see a ghost grandfather clock that dizzyingly shifted shape through the ages of man in random order. "A-are you Clockwork?" stuttered Jazz through the adrenaline in her system encouraging her to run.

"I am. As I said, I have a proposition for you; or rather I have a plan for your brother's future that I would like your aid in achieving. I am sure you would find it intriguing and beneficial."

Jazz was her parent's daughter but was not as completely and fanatically mistrustful of ghosts as they were, so she compromised and warily said, "What kind of things are you preparing for Danny? I'm listening, but I make _no_ promises." With growing interest, Jazz heard out Clockwork's plan and tentatively agreed to help.

* * *

Danny flew around the ghost part of the Otherworld trying to find a particular door that looked like it had come from a well-to-do house in western Europe's past. He was so focused on looking for this one particular door that he did not see the ultimate subject of his search coming toward him. 

"Amiko! Et estas tiel bona al vidi vi. Kio vi fari en Ghost Zone? Vi fari ne vagi aqui." (1)

"Wulf! Hey! I was looking for you, I wanted to show you something. I've been working on it for months and it's finally finished," said Danny exuberantly, responding to the part of Wulf's speech that he understood and expertly ignoring the rest.

"Vio signifi tio acaba via hejmo?" questioned Wulf curiously. (2)

"Yeah, I wanted to show it to you. You are going to be the first person I show it to—well besides Clockwork," corrected Danny with a sheepish grin. Even through his awkwardness his enthusiasm to show off his lair shined. "It's perfect!"

"Mi honore, amiko," replied Wulf formally. "Majo via hejmo konduki vi konsoli." (3)

"Eh, right. So, you really want to see it. I want to get your opinion before I show it to anybody else," explained Danny excitedly.

"De kurso, konuki la maniero," said Wulf, hiding a grin. (4)

Danny started out toward his lair, chattering excitedly all the way. "I put it near Clockwork's lair since I have to spend so much time with him anyway. The way I figure it, when he gives me breaks during our lessons I can just go there to relax. I was thinking…"

Wulf listened amusedly to Danny's monologue, humoring him while they traveled. It wasn't all that long ago that he first made his own lair. He still remembered how exciting it had been.

They eventually came upon a plain white door. The only thing that set it apart from the countless other doors in the Otherworld that led into small worldlets was the fact that it was completely alone. Most ghosts were wary of the Time Ghost, and it showed the way nobody really came near his lair, that included putting their doors near his lair.

"Sana, ae malplej vi ne confuse pri kiu pordo estas via." (5)

"I wouldn't do that, Frostbite is showing me how to use the infini-map. Have you seen it? It's cool." Danny stood in front of his door like an announcer. "Are you ready? Prepare to be amazed." On the last word, Danny threw open his door and allowed Wulf to enter.

At first Wulf couldn't see what was so special about Danny's lair. It looked just like his mortal room except that the walls were painted like the night sky. "Estas… granda Danny. Vi devi esti fiera." (6) said Wulf with a false enthusiasm as he walked around the room.

Danny walked in, practically bouncing in his shoes. "I know. I am," replied Danny obliviously. He continued, enthused, "I don't know what I expected, but this is just great!"

Wulf walked around, trying to see why he liked this room so much better than his mortal bedroom. Besides the walls, it was exactly the same from what Wulf could remember. Even the window looked out the same place as the mortal one. Wulf decided that maybe he should look at the walls closer to see what was different about it. He reached out to touch it and his hand kept going.

The walls weren't a replica of the night sky, the were the night sky! "Amazo," breathed Wulf in astonishment. "Tiel vi povi venturi las stelos sen via hejmo."

"Yeah. And the best part is, I don't have to travel as long as I would in the real world to get anywhere. I've been to a couple of the stars already. I don't know if they are the same as they would be in the real world, but still. It's awesome."

* * *

Hint: Please feed the Review Monster (You won't find one of these on PBS). 

Next Ch. 5: "The Invitation"

Rough Translation (The words are not exact since some of the words have not yet been coined into Esperanto yet)

(1) Friend! It is so good to see you. What are you doing in this part of the Ghost Zone? You do not usually wander this far.

(2) You mean that you finally finished your lair? questioned Wulf curiously.

(3) I am honored, Friend replied Wulf formally. May your lair forever bring you comfort.

(4) Of course. Lead the way, said Wulf, hiding a grin.

(5) Well, at least you won't get confused about which door is yours.

(6) This is… great, Danny. You must be proud, said Wulf with a false enthusiasm as he walked around the room.

(7) Amazing breathed Wulf in astonishment. So you can travel the stars without leaving your lair.

AN: I really like the lair HiddenAuthor made for Danny… it took a while for me to get past that image at first when I was coming up with the idea for this story, but I like this one too. So, what do you think about the lair? Does it suit? If you want my explanation for Danny's lair, just ask and I will explain. The next chapter is half done (especially since it was originally the last half of this one). It should be out sooner than this one.


	6. Chapter 5: The Invitation

AN: I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review.

AN: Thanks to all my reviewers for the last chapter: HikaruOfDreams, Thunderstorm101, Magnus1111, Manyara, Platinum Hearts, Golden feathers Edward, and deadbeat blaze. Thanks for the reviews. It is one of the things that tell me that my writing isn't a complete waste of time.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Warning: minor curse word.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 5: The Invitation

Principal Angela Powers wondered how she came to be in this situation. She was standing in front of a would-be normal urban house, except for the gaudy flashing neon "FentonWorks" sign in front and the saucer on top. "'Can't miss it' indeed," she mumbled to herself before visibly shaking off her stupor and determinedly walking up the steps to the front door. "And I thought heroes were supposed to be the eccentric ones," she muttered before knocking.

A red haired young woman answered the door and smiled, "Hello," she said pleasantly, "You must be Principal Powers, my parents and I have been expecting you. Danny's out, though. As far as I know he still doesn't have a clue about this."

"You must be Jasmine," surmised Powers. "From what I understand from a mutual acquaintance of ours, it would probably be best if Daniel were not here at first. We—I am not sure your parents will even agree."

"Please, it's just Jazz, and I don't know whether I will agree or not. But if you can sell me on the idea, I will do my best to help you convince my parents," replied Jazz with a mischievous grin. "It shouldn't be too hard. Come on in, I'll go get them. Do you want anything to drink while you wait?"

"Thank you, water would be fine." Powers glanced around the living room. Despite the outer shell of the town house, the inside looked nearly normal. Her experienced eyes picked out what looked like several emergency buttons hidden in strategic places, cracks in the walls and ceiling where they would slide away to reveal only-the-gods-know-what. Though knowing what she knew about the family, she could guess that it was something anti-ghost.

"Thank you for meeting with me Mr. and Mrs. Fenton. As I have told you over the phone, the administration of the Associated Champion Independent School District would like to invite your son, Daniel, to attend one of our exclusive schools. We have always found it to be so much better to give the details of our invitation in person." As she spoke, Angela took in the sight of the couple in front of her. At first glance the man took most of her notice. He was large, not beefy or fat, just very solid in his bright orange Haz-Mat suit. He had thinning and graying hair… and a very large almost goofy smile on his face. You could almost mistake him for an idiot if you didn't see the intelligent gleam in his eyes… it was just overshadowed by the child-like curiosity he had on his face.

On the very next thought, Angela noticed the woman in the blue Haz-Mat suit…. And that's it. All she could really tell from looking at the woman was that she was very fit and was possibly very nice if the smile was genuine. The only bit of exposed skin was her lower face.

"Oh, no need to stand on formality here. You can just call me Maddie, and this is my husband, Jack." Oh, yes. The smile was genuine. Maddie walked over to her with a kind of innate grace that only those who know martial arts can achieve. "You wanted to talk to us about Danny being accepted into an elite school for special children, right? You said in the message you left for us that you wanted to explain to us in person."

"Yes, the ACISD tries to keep an eye out for extraordinary individuals who show a great deal of talent, and promise for the future. Normally we only accept children just entering high school, but your son did not come to our notice until just recently—"

"How did Danny do that?" Jack interrupted loudly, startling Angela, "His grades have been even worse this year than any other year."

"Well, like I said," stalled Angela, gathering her thoughts, mentally berating herself for being caught off-guard. That kind of thing could have gotten her killed in the old days. "We look at the potential of all of our prospective students and try to nurture it.

"The program is, from beginning to end, five to six years long, and when they graduate, depending on what our students do with their time with us, they will have not only a High School Diploma, but they will either have and Associates or a Bachelor's degree in certain chosen fields—or even a general degree if they like. Our program combines both high school and college to help our students attain a better future." Angela paused taking a sip of water to allow the Fentons to absorb the information, "Do you have any questions so far?"

"This sounds like a great program," began Mrs. Fen—Maddie, "I don't want to sound like I don't think Danny can do better, but I have to ask. Why didn't you consider Jazz for your school? And, if we accepted how would Danny attend? It doesn't sound like anything nearby."

Giving a pleased smile at Maddie's sharp scrutiny, Angela replied carefully, "Your daughter is a very driven young woman. She is already doing all she can to help herself. Our program is very time consuming and would likely only hinder her achievement of her goals. Your son, Daniel, on the other hand, would do well with a bit more of a push and even specialized attention if we think he needs it." Seeing that the Fentons were pleased with the answer, she continued with her explanation of the school system.

"We have three main campuses. If you were to accept, we would set up something with one of the local families who already have children attending our schools as we do not have campus housing." Just the thought of certain students, both former and present, having the opportunity to live on campus gave her chills.

Several hours later a slightly fatigued Angela stepped out of the Fenton home feeling as if the Fentons would agree to sending Danny to one of the schools. If not, the look in Jazz's eyes as they were closing up told Angela that they would be convinced one way or another that this would be the right choice to make for Danny. All that was left to decide was which campus Danny would attend, and of course to convince Danny that he needed to come. Piece of cake.

In the middle of Clockwork's lair a tear in the fabric of space seemingly appeared of its own accord. Out of the tear stepped Principal Angela Powers, the principal of Sky High proper followed by a furry wolf-man.

"Thank you, Wulf," called out Clockwork's voice from behind a slowly spinning gear. "I truly appreciate you escorting Ms. Powers here so often."

"Mi aeiam preta al helpi mia amiko, Danny," replied Wulf eagerly. (1)

"Okay, Clockwork. So far you have convinced me that Danny has what it takes to be a hero and he is definitely young enough to go to hero school. You still haven't convinced me that he needs to go to _my_ Sky High—which, may I remind you, is usually reserved for children of heroes themselves."

"But there have been exceptions in the past."

"Those were all exceptional exceptions. You still haven't convinced me that Danny is exceptionally exceptional."

"If I haven't convinced you by the end of this session, I will accept that he will have to go to one of the schools made especially for first generation heroes," consented Clockwork slyly. "Have we an agreement?"

"Fine, yes. We have an agreement"

Clockwork and Angela stood in front of the viewing portal commenting on Danny's comportment—both as Fenton and Phantom; each of them throwing out opinions as to why Danny should go to a particular Sky High campus as opposed to another one.

"What about the fact that he treats his friends badly. He uses them when he needs them, and leaves them when something better comes along."

"He _used to_ behave as such, he has made progress to change that behavior when he was made aware. To be self-centered is a typical teenage trait—male or female. Could you honestly say that you never did the same at that age?"

Conceding defeat Angela moved on to her next point her voice becoming hoarse and her throat dry from the long hours of debate with Clockwork, "Fine, but what about the fact that his parents don't know about him? Wouldn't they want to visit the school? It would still be better for him to go to Sky High East. That one is prepared to take in students whose parents don't know. Sky High West would even be better prepared for a first generation student, even though it usually takes students who have told their parents about their abilities."

"You will find, I think, that his parents would not insist on visiting the school, Sky High proper, if you show them one of the others. Explain to them that the main campus is only open to individuals who attended or whose parents attended one of the three campuses. They are terribly trusting, the Fentons are."

"I don't like to lie if I don't have to," was the growled reply.

"It is not lying," was the calm rejoinder, "It is still truth, just tell them that Danny is so exceptional that he would be going to that campus. They would understand… eventually."

"Okay, I admit that it is feasible for Danny to attend Sky High if you are correct and if you can convince me that he is exceptionally exceptional—which you still haven't done."

"Yet."

"Fine," Angela said grumpily, "Show me more of Danny's greatness." She didn't like losing arguments it seemed.

"Shall we recap our other debates before continuing?"

"Fine," bit out Angela. She muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "smug bastard".

"We ended our last debate agreeing that that Danny would be too far ahead of the other children if he were to go to either East or West—"

"We also agreed that he would be behind at the main campus."

"But it is better to have to work to catch up, than to be bored and lose interest. And at the main campus, he would have better and more secure influences than he would at the other campuses—you are surer that the children will follow the right path. The other schools have a higher villain production rate than the main campus does."

Angela felt it necessary to defend her school, "We don't know what kind of influences the other children have—"

"Exactly my point; and what would happen if Danny falls in with the wrong crowd? At least if he attends your school you can nudge him towards the right people and making the right decisions. You _do_ remember Dark Danny, don't you? He still is possible, or at least some version of him is."

Angela shivered at the memory of the destroyed Earth from the averted future. While Angela remembered the images shown to her, Clockwork asked, "Are you aware that Danny and his friends finished their freshman year a few days ago?"

"No, why would I?" Clockwork's tangent caught her off guard, and made her curious. Even if they don't seem like it at first, his tangents always have some connection to the conversation.

"Something happened that the whole world became aware of, even if they have forgotten. Shall I remind you?"

When Angela consented, Clockwork showed her Danny's most recent run-in with Freakshow. She watched with rapt attention as Danny was exposed, his reaction to the publicity it caused him, and his trials in trying to obtain safety for his family and the families of his friends. She saw as Danny was betrayed by Freakshow when he followed the letter of their agreement, but not the spirit. "We will have to teach him to analyze a villain's words and to use judgment when believing or disbelieving them," she murmured to herself, seemingly unaware that she was doing so. She watched in approval as Danny tricked Freakshow into turning himself as a ghost and when he turned Freakshow over to the Guys in White. When Danny destroyed the reality gauntlet, however, she gasped.

"He destroyed it! He didn't keep it even as a trophy?!"

"Why would he want to? He already has enough powers as it is."

"He could have used it to help man-kind, he could have…" Angela trailed off thinking of everything that could have been done.

"Yes, he could have done all that and more with such power," cut Clockwork softly into her thoughts. "But according to whose vision would he have re-made the world? No two people have the same idea of utopia."

Her visions took a darker turn. External objects can be stolen or lost, as can be seen by the altercation between Danny and Freakshow. Nearly undefeatable power can be heady. "You're right Clockwork. This boy is exceptionally exceptional. If he agrees to come, he will attend the main Sky High this coming fall semester."

"Thank you, but I think he should start this summer. That way he can catch up on what conventional schooling does not cover."

"Agreed, I will go and talk to the Fenton family tomorrow."

Angela Powers was back in the Fenton home, waiting for Danny's parents to get home with Danny. Daniel would do well in the school. There was no doubt of that. She had already explained the situation to the Fenton parents and was just waiting for them to return from retrieving Danny from a fast food place called the Nasty Burger. All that was left was to convince Danny that it would be in his best interests for him to go. Powers enjoyed challenges. She didn't get nearly enough anymore since she took up the mantle of principal.

Powers could hear Danny complaining to his parents as they walked to the living room from the garage.

"But mo-om, I don't want to transfer to another school," Angela smirked in amusement at a teenager's ability to put extra syllables into words when whining. "And why would you want to make me go to a school that lasts for five or six years instead of four? That's just cruel and unusual. It's not even punishment since I haven't done anything wrong!"

"Now, sweetheart," placated Mrs. Fenton, "I want you to give her a chance. This is a great opportunity. We just want what's best for you, honey." Hook, line and sinker. The parental guilt-trip. It should be good enough for the boy to at least listen to her. "I want you to at least listen to her, okay?"

"Okay, mom," came the resigned reply. "I'll listen."

"And you won't just dismiss what she has to say? You will actually consider it?" There was a slightly longer pause.

With obvious hesitance Danny agreed "Good. Now go on and meet her."

"Wait! You mean you aren't going to go with me?" Angela made a note of that. This kid needs some self-confidence. He's almost fifteen years old and he still wanted his parents to come with him to a simple conference. Angela forced herself to snap out of her plans for this kid; she needed to get him to agree to go first. She continued listening to the conversation, making internal notes—just in case.

"Of course, sweetie, we don't want to influence you decision. We already talked to her, and we agree that she is making a very good offer for you. We even visited one of their school campuses earlier in the week. Now, go on." That's tough love right there Angela smirked to herself.

The silence on the other end even _felt_ reluctant.

Danny just didn't know what was going on with his parents. Normally they were overwhelmingly overbearing and protective, and suddenly they thrust him into this all on his own. It confused him and put him on his guard. He walked into the living room apprehensively—alone. The woman was dressed in a beige pantsuit and had her hair tied back in a no-nonsense bun. Not somebody Danny would want to lightly cross. He prepared himself for anything she might say.

"Good afternoon, Danny. I am Principal Angela Powers and I'm here to invite you to attend my school, Sky High, which is tailored to help superheroes in training prepare for their future."

Except for that.

"Wait. What!? Y-you must have made some kind of mistake," spluttered Danny. What was going on? How could she know?

"Calm down, Danny," said Ange—Pow—Principal Powers, "Clockwork sent me. We should probably wait to begin talking about anything serious until he gets here. Why don't you have a seat?" She is enjoying this way too much, thought Danny as he slowly sunk into a seat across from her.

"Clockwork. Of course. That manipulative—no, wait, it is better to hear his side of the story before jumping to any kinds of conclusions," muttered Danny to himself. It never occurred to him that maybe Ms. Powers was bluffing since so few people knew about Clockwork in the first place.

"Indeed, Daniel"

"Clockwork!" hissed Danny jumping up from his seat frantically. "What are you doing here? My parents are gonna freak if they walk in and see you here."

"Don't worry, Danny. Your parents won't come in here until you finish your conversation with Angela, here, and come to a decision."

"That's really creepy, Clockwork. I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that," said Danny grimacing as he shifted uncomfortably by the couch he had been sitting on.

"Sit down, Danny. Let me explain why I think you should go to this school."

"Wait a minute, Clockwork," exclaimed Danny, stalking toward Clockwork. "You can't just come in and tell me what to do. This is my life!" By the last word, Danny was almost yelling. It was a good thing the lower part of the house had nearly sound-proof walls for when his parents' inventions exploded.

"Actually I can. It is part of my right as your mentor to send you where I think is best for your training," stated Clockwork smugly. "However," he continued, overriding Danny's indignant spluttering, "I am willing to try and convince you, rather than forcing you. If you notice, I said 'why I think you should go' not 'you are going'. Do try and pay attention, Daniel." Clockwork hovered over to one of the unoccupied couches. "Now have a seat, Danny. The three of us need to talk."

Danny gave a guilty start of surprise. He had forgotten about their guest. Usually when he was with Clockwork, it was just the two of them. He looked over at the woman and saw that she was trying not to smile.

"I, um, take it he had no idea at all you were planning this," stated Ms. Powers, losing her fight with her grin. "This should be interesting."

Several hours later, Danny was trying to fight his growing excitement, telling himself not to rush into things. "So basically you're telling me that I can go there for a year, get a provisional license—that is approved by the government so the Guys in White would _have_ to stop trying to hunt me—and then I can take distance courses to finish the schooling and when I am done you guys would help set up a secret identity for me… or whatever I would need to live a normal life when I am not heroing."

"Basically. After you graduate, though you would have to take a certain amount of continuing education hours to keep you license. There is usually some kind of ethics, philosophy, a physical test or a power test to make sure you are keeping in shape and a random one that is chosen by your local superhero committee."

"That is so cool! Sam and Tuck are going to be so psyched! Can we have some time to think about it—?"

Clockwork cut in gently, "Danny, this offer is only for you. The schools only take people with some type of powers." Danny started wilting, almost like a deflating balloon. "This is a great opportunity," continued Clockwork guiltily, "and it is only for one year."

"One year, right," was the despondent answer. Suddenly Danny perked up as some thought hit him over the head, "Wait a minute! One year, that's right! What am I supposed to do about Amity for the year I'm gone? I can't just leave it undefended."

"I was wondering when you would ask that. I have spoken to the ghost council and they have agreed to make the territory of Amity anathema," Danny gave Clockwork a confused look, "taboo Daniel, taboo. It will be taboo for any ghost to haunt for the first year of your training at Sky High, but only while you are gone from Amity."

"Even Plasmius?" With Clockwork's nod, Danny saw his only real excuse not to attend flying out the proverbial window. "Fine," Danny sighed, "I'll try to attend starting the next semester."

"Actually, you would have to get started this summer," cut in Powers. "There are some courses you would have to take to be eligible for the provisional license. To be able to finish them in a year, you would have to get started this summer. The summer term starts in a week and a half."

Danny groaned, "You mean, I have to give up my summer too?" Clockwork glared at Danny. "Yeah, yeah. I know, I'll still go. It's not like I have summer plans anymore anyway. I guess I should go tell my parents that I'm going."

"Good, I need to go now if I am going to get things set up before the summer term starts," stated Principal Powers, suddenly all business. "I need to choose the family you are going to live with, convince them to let you stay, and set up a meeting between them and your parents. I will be seeing you both later," said Powers looking around, "or rather, I will see you later Danny. It seems that Clockwork already left. We'll just have to see Clockwork when he wants to be seen." With that, Powers walked out the door.

"Hi, sweetie. How is the discussion going? I brought cookies." With her usual cheerful aplomb, Maddie Fenton walked into the living room. "You have been talking for an awfully long time and I thought—Where did Angela go?" questioned Maddie, confused.

"She left, mom. I accepted her offer and she left to go get it set up. I'm supposed to start summer school in a week and a half to get caught up."

"Well," said Maddie, taken aback. "I guess we will have to make this a memorable week and a half," started Maddie, tearing up. "My little boy is growing up and—sniff—moving out, and making something of himself." On the last word, Maddie attached herself to his shoulder and began to cry. Danny could only stand there awkwardly and hope help came soon.

(1) "I am always ready to help my friend, Danny," replied Wulf eagerly.

AN: Yay! The two worlds collide. Now it is officially a crossover. I know you probably have some questions. I put a lot of things out there that just could not be explained yet, and some I probably didn't think about. So, if anyone has questions, I will try to answer them personally and include them in my AN in the next chapter—unless of course they give away too much. But either way, you won't get any answers if you don't ask first.

AN2: The way I see it, there is a certain kind of elitism in the hero world of Sky High. That is why I made the separate schools. Of course, they explain it in such a way that security is focused upon and not the idea of "we are better than you because our parents already were heroing and yours are just civilians." I mean look at how Will was treated at the beginning of Sky High, just because he was "third generation." Besides, I thought the freshman year class that came in with Will was kind of small. If that was the amount of superheroes that got put out every year (assuming that is the kind of turnover that they get normally) then it would be a miracle they weren't run-over by villains. Even in the comics the heroes die, and not all of the class would be heroes, it seemed that most of them became sidekicks.

AN3: I didn't know whether to include more information on the classes and how I set it up. If you think I should include it, feel free to ask. I just didn't want to put too much information out there at once. I modeled the Sky High system to be like real programs out there that have kids attend for five years and graduate with a general Associate's degree.

AN4: I planned on having this chapter out a week or two after chapter 4, but the last scene was giving me trouble. I'm still not sure I am very happy with it, but here it is. At least it is longer than any of the other chapters I put up so far. I hope you enjoyed it, and please review.

Hint: Reviews stimulate the creative drive.


	7. Chapter 6: Meetings and Opportunities

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long to come out. My computer was not available for the past two weeks; I won't bore you with the details. I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Just remember I will be using elements from the third DP season, but they won't be in the same order, or even all together. Certain plot elements will pop up from the same episodes at different times in this fic. Please read and review. I appreciate any and all constructive criticisms; even just dropping a line to tell me you enjoyed it is helpful.

Thanks to all my reviewers I'm Too Obsessed, Manyara, Thunderstorm101, Golden feathers Edward, wolfey141, LiLIndianPrinzess, and angel-phantom-babii.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 6: Meetings and Opportunities

Will Stronghold was a good kid. He obeyed his parents, kept his room reasonably clean, and he treated his girl—ex-girlfriend well. They had started dating the year before during Homecoming, but had quickly realized that they were not ready for a relationship yet. They decided to wait until they were a little more mature before trying again. Will had a strong feeling that they broke it off mainly for his sake.

He did well in school, and did his best not to get in trouble. The point was that Will was a good kid. It kind of made him nervous when he was called into the principal's office. During summer break, no less.

He was waiting at the bus stop where the school bus came to pick him up during the school year so he could go to his meeting with Principal Powers. No matter how hard he thought back, he couldn't remember what he might have done to get called in.

"Hi, Will," came the cheerful voice of his ex-girlfriend behind him. "I guess you were called in to talk with Principal Powers too, huh?" she questioned through her smile. Looking at her in the early morning sun, Will felt a pang of regret that he agreed to just be friends for the time being, but he knew that it would be better for the both of them if they focused on their studies at school. They were too distracted with each other when they were together to do anyone any good. _Obsessed_. That was what she called it. They were obsessed with each other.

Will realized he had been staring at Layla for too long, she was still waiting for his reply. "Yeah." To his mortification, his voice broke mid-word. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Yeah, my parents told me last night that I was supposed to take the bus this morning—Oh, and they also said that we were going somewhere this weekend. All I could get out of them was that it had to do with the family business, but it wasn't really work. I didn't know whether to be relieved this morning finally came or worried that we have to go to the principal's office during summer break," sighed Will.

"I know what you mean. Mom cancelled our vacation. When I asked why, all she would tell me was that Principal Powers would explain." Layla opened her mouth to say something else to Will but was interrupted by the arrival of the bus.

"Yo, Will, Layla. You're comin' too? This is so weird, man. The whole gang is here." Zack was an enthusiastic person to be around. He always put 110 percent of himself into what he did. Minimum.

Will looked around the bus and saw that all his closest friends from freshman year at Sky High were there. Quiet Ethan was there, an African American boy with a love of both knowledge and the color orange was there. Next to him on the bus was Magenta, a goth girl with natural purple streaks in her hair and an attitude to match her appearance, which was to say she blasé.

Of course, there was Zack his previously mentioned energetic friend whose favorite color was neon yellow and had a glowing ability to match.

Looking further, Will could see Warren sitting in the back of the bus. He liked to wear black and leather (both if he could manage it) in attempt to frighten or intimidate anyone near him and hopefully keep them away from him. He had a chip on his shoulder the size of the state of Wisconsin due to the reputation his father, Baron Battle, left behind as one of the worst villains in recent history. This wasn't because Battle did the most atrocious acts (though that was part of it), it was just because he was a hero-turned-villain. Just that one fact knocked everyone off their feet and threw them into chaos. Then end result for the family he left behind was a wife who wasn't quite trusted in the hero community anymore, and a son who had to constantly fight against his father's reputation for villainy.

With Will and Layla on the bus, they completed Will's close circle of friends. Zack was right. It seemed that they were the only ones being summoned to Sky High to talk to Principal Powers. There was no way this was a coincidence.

"Does anybody know what this is about?" questioned Will. He saw in his friend's faces that they didn't. Well, in all but one face. "What about you, Warren? Do you know what's going on?"

Warren turned away from his contemplation of the passing scenery. "I thought I did," came the flat reply as he looked over the rest of the occupants of the bus, "but with the rest of you here, I have to be wrong."

"So you were expecting to be summoned," piped up Ethan from the front of the bus. "For what? It might give us a clue what this is about if you tell us."

"It doesn't matter," came the surly reply, "it can't be the same thing." For the rest of the trip the five friends tried to pry an answer out of Warren, which he stoically resisted.

Bothering Warren was a fruitless task, Will knew that he would not budge, but bothering him was a welcome distraction to the pending conversation with Principal Powers. Warren must have thought that, too, because he did not snap at anyone. And so, Will allowed his friends to continue pestering Warren until they reached Powers' office, and none of them got fried.

* * *

"Good morning. I hope you all have had a pleasant summer so far," smiled Principal Powers to her seated students. At their murmurs of assent she continued, "I have called you here to discuss letting you get a jumpstart on your future."

She paused to allow the group their exclamations of excitement to die down before continuing with a smile, "I take it all of you are interested?"

"Heck, yeah!" exclaimed Zack jumping up. He looked around at everybody's amused expression, sat back down and said more sedately, "Yes, of course we are."

"Good," said Powers brusquely, "because we would have to get started immediately." She got up and walked around her desk to hand out packets of information. "As some of you may know, Sky High offers the option for students who show themselves to be responsible and hard working to get a Hero's permit, which is very much like a driver's permit in that you would have a chance to practice heroing, but only with a seasoned hero present—yes, Warren, I'll get to you in just a minute. Let me finish explaining this." Warren had been getting impatient in his seat, in anyone else it would have been called fidgety.

When he calmed down, Powers continued, "The faculty and governing board of Sky High have decided to give this offer to the five of you. Now we usually allow students to take the initiative and approach us, but this is a special case. This year we have accepted a first generation student into the sophomore class here at Sky High."

"Whoa, a first generation hasn't come here in like thirty years!" exclaimed Zack.

"Since my dad," came the quiet voice of Ethan from the side of the group, a simple pride evident in his voice. "he was promised an acceptance here early at the age of thirteen after he stopped a tsunami from flooding most of Japan when he was vacationing there with my grandparents."

"Awesome."

"Exactly, Mr. Fontain. Your father was a terribly exceptional individual. He is a true asset to the Hero community, just as we hope for out new student to be."

"If he's supposed to be some hot-shot hero-to-be, what do you need us for?" asked Magenta, angry that her sleep in time was being wasted.

Well, Ms. Melisand, I was going to offer all of you the opportunity to prove yourselves worthy of a hero's permit by tutoring him and getting him acquainted with the hero's culture. Explaining to him the do's and don'ts that we have that are different from the civilian culture. You would also have the responsibility to help him with the upcoming year. All in all, you have to get him ready to be an official hero."

"Wait a minute. You mean you are giving us a year to teach some kid who doesn't know anything about anything on how to be a hero in one year when not only have we been preparing for this all our lives," exclaimed an indignant Magenta, "but we are also going to school for five years _minimum_ to get ready for this!?"

"Yeah! What Magenta said," jumped in Zack, always ready to back her up.

"I don't know guys, it sounds kind of fun," interjected Layla weakly.

"If you'll settle down," began Powers loudly, "and let me finish explaining what you are to do if you accept, I'd appreciate it.

"We do not expect you to teach him how to do everything that is needed to get a hero's license. That would be quite impossible as you do not know everything, yourselves, for that. We just want you to help get him caught up and finished with sophomore year level by this time next year. That is all that will be required of you academically."

The group was excited at the potential opportunity this assignment would open for them and quickly agreed. Powers quickly explained the situation and got ready to escort the five out of her office.

"When we first started," began Will, thinking aloud pensively at the door way, "you mentioned us five, but there're six of us. Which of us is being left out?"

"Me," came the voice of the nearly-forgotten Warren, still in his seat in Powers' office.

"What! That's not fair!" exclaimed Will, "he should be given the same opportunity as the rest of us!"

"Mr. Stronghold! While trying to stand up for those that you perceive as slighted, it would suit you well not to jump to conclusions! As a matter of fact, the reason this option is not oven to Mr. Peace is because he has already proven himself responsible by working at the Paper Lantern last year."

Turning to Warren she said, "I was going to wait until I could make this offer without an audience, but we would like to make you partners with the new student for the next year. His code-name is Danny Phantom. He works out of Amity Park, Michigan. Normally we would pair you up with a hero, not a junior hero who doesn't even have a license, but Phantom has already been heroing for over nine months, and his opponents would provide you with a finer opportunity than if we paired you up with any other established heroes. While he is not a seasoned hero in the traditional sense, he has the most experience in a particular field that no established heroes have. You see, he fights ghosts. We would also like for you monitor his progress. We think you would do this better than if we were to set him up with an adult hero. The rest of the specifications of the assignment are in the file I handed you earlier.

"If you agree to this, you would get a hero's provisional license along with him instead of just a permit to work in his home-town where he is already acknowledged. I need your decision by this evening."

"What would happen if I didn't accept? And if I did accept, how long would I be stuck with him?"

"If you didn't accept, nothing would happen. You would just have to wait until we could find another hero to pair you up with. If you did accept, you would have to work with him at least for the next year."

Warren sat in his seat. Powers and the others stared at him from the doorway as he weighed his options. "Fine. I'll work with the neophyte."

* * *

"Warren, dude. Why didn't you tell us that's why you were working, man? We could have been heroing too." This, of course, came from Zack after they all trouped back into the bus to be taken back home.

"One, the information is there for anyone who bothers to read the student handbook; two, you never asked; and three, why did you think I was working there?"

"Well, you know with your parents and all, I thought…" Zack trailed off under the force of Warren's glare.

"Listen here, Day-Glo. I may not be as well off as you guys, but I do not need to work to help my mom make ends meet. Got it?" Warren asked forcefully.

"G-got it," stuttered Zack, shrinking into his seat.

The rest of the ride passed in uncomfortable silence under the oppressive weight of Warren's ire.

* * *

Danny walked to the Nasty Burger, wondering what he was going to tell his best friends. This whole thing was just so sudden, Danny's head was still reeling.

Him? Go to a school for heroes? It just seemed so surreal, like some great joke that somehow his family got together to pull. If he didn't know that his family had no interest in such things, he would have just blown it off… except Clockwork was in on it too.

Danny sighed in frustration, there was no way he could convince himself that it was all just a hoax. There went his slim hope of having a normal—er kind of pretend-normal life. But he was getting off topic. How was he going to tell his friends that he was going away for a year starting this weekend?

Danny arrived all too soon at the eatery and he still did not know how to break the news to his friends.

"You know Danny, we have to stop meeting like this."

"Yeah, the last time you asked to talk to us here and was wearing that face, you told us that you didn't have a god anymore. It can't be that bad."

Just like last time, Danny almost walked past his friends without even realizing it. Their voiced pulled him out of his daze. "Hey Sam. Hey Tuck. How're things going with you?"

"We're fine," answered Sam warily, "but that's not what we came here for. You said you had something important to tell us."

Danny cringed, the worry in Sam's voice made the guilt surge up and settle around his heart, chilling him. "Well, I got some news from Clockwork today."

"Does it have anything to do with why your parents picked you up from school today?"

"Yeah, kind of." Danny sat in silence staring at the booth table trying to collect his thoughts. _Sheba wuz hur._ _Wuz up._ Voices from the past haunting tables in writing in a public fast-food joint. Danny could feel hysteria, or a close cousin to it, bubbling up inside. His life was falling apart. When did his life get so out of control?

"Uh, Danny. Not that I don't like spending time with you and all, but I thought you were going to tell us something. You said it was important." It was Tucker that spoke up this time.

Danny looked up. It looked like Tuck and Sam were starting get anxious from the way Danny was behaving. He opened his mouth to tell them that he was leaving, "Does anybody want a smoothie? I'll buy."

"Danny, don't think that this is going to distract us from whatever is bothering you. You should just tell us. Don't worry about how it's going to sound. We're all good enough friends that if you say something stupid or if it comes out wrong we won't hold it against you," said Sam, eyeing Danny for clues to his behavior.

Danny opened his mouth to explain, but instead he heard someone say with his voice, "So, do you want a smoothie or not?" Oh, gods. That was him. He awkwardly stood up by their booth to wait for their answers. At their decline, Danny went off to get a smoothie, cursing his cowardice silently.

Thankfully, the Nasty Burger was busy so the line was fairly long. Danny frantically tried to think up a way to break the news to his best friends gently. He reached the front of the line before he could think of anything and reluctantly trudged back to their booth.

"Danny, you're starting to worry m-us," said Sam, her body tensed to take some kind of action that would get her the answers, something like ask his sister.

"Well," began Danny before taking a deep breath, his shoulders hunched with tension in anticipation of their reaction, "my parents have decided to send me to a new school for a year. To see how it would work out."

"Ha, ha, very funny, Danny. No, really what's going on man."

"Tuck, I'm not joking," Danny's voice rose before dropping back down in time for Danny to whisper, leaning over the table, "Clockwork was in on it too. He thinks it's a good idea."

"Oh, well _Clockwork_ thinks it is a good idea." Danny flinched back from the scorn in Sam's voice. "The gods forefend against you doing anything _Clockwork_ didn't first advise. You should _never_ go against Clockwork's advice. Never mind that we hardly get to spend any time together anymore. Never mind that—" Sam broke off, her voice clogged with tears.

"Sam, please," Danny's face scrunched in anguish. "It's not like I have a choice," pled Danny miserably trying to get them to understand, "I miss you guys too, but Clockwork has ultimate say over anything connected to my training, I have to go. Besides maybe this will help make Phantom a better hero for Amity."

"Wait. What?" asked Tucker incredulously, holding up his hands to stop Danny's words, "What does your parents sending you to a new school have to do with Phantom?"

"Didn't I say?" His friends shook their heads, Sam's frustration visibly leaking into Tucker. "Clockwork set it up so that I would go to hero school for a year—including this summer—to learn how to be a hero from a school that excels in teaching people to be heroes. It is supposed to be the best one in the US. My parents think it's just a school for special kids. I—"

"Why," cut in Sam, biting off each word as she said them, "do you need to go to a school to learn how to be a hero? You already _are_ a hero. You're doing just fine."

"Sam, keep your voice down. It'll only be for a year," he soothed, "and I'm supposed to be able to come back on weekends as soon as the regular school year starts up. We can spend time together then. Clockwork promised that he wouldn't do anything to get in the way of us spending time together on those weekends." His voice lowered so much that Sam almost missed the last part, "I've missed you guys too."

The three friends sat in mournful silence until Tucker took it upon himself to break up the mood, "Well, at least we have this next week to spend together, right?"

Cringing, Danny said, "Actually…"

"What now! Can't we spend any time with you anymore? You're going to be gone for ages, can't Cuckoo give you a break!"

"Sam—"

"No! Can't you see? He's taking you away from us. He—"

"Sam! My dad wants to take me fishing. He wants to have 'father-slash-son' time. I could swear he was reading out of a book."

* * *

Clockwork was unhappy. He was unhappy in two ways. He had left the business of preparing Danny to be a hero to Angela Powers as he had seen that she would make generally better decisions for Danny's training than he had and therefore did not think to check up on her. When she returned to the school to make preparations for Danny's hero training, she was reacting to the lingering fear of what would happen to Danny if he ever became evil. She might have been capable of making better hero training decisions, but that didn't mean she wasn't capable of making mistakes.

His second unhappiness was connected to the first unhappiness.

He was unhappy with himself. He realized that he was feeling protective and possessive of Danny. Somehow Danny had become important to him. He came to be almost like a son to the time ghost. He imagined that this tearing sensation between duty and desire for what was best was the way a parent would feel when they first send their children into the unknown. He missed Danny. He didn't want to allow anyone else to have access to his training.

He realized the emotion was illogical. He realized it and still could do nothing to diffuse it. It was becoming ridiculous.

What was worse was that with each passing moment, he became increasingly more agitated. It was almost as if he continued to expect Danny to walk in at any moment to continue with their current lesson.

This was a dangerous emotion to have considering what he had to do. He couldn't have emotions clouding his judgment.

Sighing, he did his best to dismiss his personal unhappiness and tried to recapture his detached impartiality. Business came first. He needed to talk to a certain Angela Powers about Danny's living arrangements, knowing even as he left that he would fail.

* * *

Will was curious. He and his parents were making a several hour drive to someplace they had never been before to do something in the "family business" wearing civilian clothes. The confusion factor did not diminish Will's curiosity. Instead it enhanced it. What in the world was going on?

At first he thought that maybe he was wrong and his parents really _were_ doing some kind of real-estate business, but eventually discarded the idea as they never worked this far from Maxville.

"We're almost there, honey. Do you think we should tell Will yet?" Oh, yeah. His mom was enjoying this way too much.

"I don't know, Josie. He hasn't tried to ask us about what we were doing in the past five minutes. Maybe he doesn't care anymore." His dad too. For superheroes, his parents seemed to have an unexplored sadistic streak in them. Their wide grins clearly showed how much they were enjoying Will's discomfort. After a pause where the only reason he did not respond to their jibes was through a superhuman effort of will, they finally had pity on him and relented.

"Will, you know the special kid the school is accepting for this coming year?" questioned his mom.

"Ye-es," answered Will, drawing the word out. His mom stared at him, waiting for him to make the connection

"Will, we're going to meet him and his family." Seeing comprehension dawn, she continued, "There are a few things you need to know about him, though. You already know he is a first generation, but what you don't know is that his parents don't know about his… extracurricular activities." She continued explaining Danny's situation to him, making sure that they were all briefed on Danny's situation so that no one broke his cover—that privilege was reserved for Danny alone when he felt the time was right.

One thing was for certain, it was certainly going to be interesting to see how the family interacts.

* * *

"Now, remember, the school is to help special kids to reach their full potential," reminded Josie Stronghold, Will's mom, just before she knocked at the front door of the Fenton home.

The door opened to a red haired woman with vivid violet eyes. "Oh, you must be the Strongholds. Come in. Come in. I'm Danny's mom, Madeline Fenton' but you can call me Maddie. Would you like some refreshments? You must be a bit tired out from the drive." The woman, Maddie, nearly bowled them over with the force of her nervously cheerful personality. "Danny and Jack are not back yet; they went on a camping, fishing trip. They should arrive in a few hours. Until then, we can all get to know each other."

Even with all of their combined crime-fighting experience, the Stronghold family was completely unprepared for the next few hours that awaited them.

* * *

By the time Jack and Danny returned home, their "fishing prize" in tow, Maddie was convinced of the Stronghold family's trustworthiness with her son, and the Strongholds from Steve to Will were wrung out from the experience. They talked among themselves while Maddie went to greet the two wayward members of the household.

"Wow. I wouldn't feel at all sorry to pit that woman up against Blazesoul, or Necrotic. She's certainly a force to be reckoned with. The daughter either. She could probably talk them into turning themselves into jail," stated Steve Stronghold. "If this Danny has even a quarter of either of their zeal, he will certainly be one if the finest heroes of your age, Will."

"Well, you couldn't expect Maddie to just send her child to live with complete strangers. And if Angela was correct, Jazz is the only one of the family to know Danny's secret. I would have been worried if they hadn't done _something_ to make sure we weren't child abusers," admonished Josie. Steve's reply was cut off by the sound of the Fenton family coming back. They could see a little bit of the interaction through the doorway in the livingroom.

"I'm glad you both had fun, sweetie. I'm just glad you both made it back, even if you are a bit late. The Strongholds have been here for hours." Josie and Steve noticed the two Fenton parents exchanging a subtle glance that told them that there was nothing accidental about their late arrival.

"I'm glad we're back too. Now, could you help me stuff this thing in the freezer before we start anything?"

"Sur—Wait a minute, where did it go? Monsters that size don't just disappear," She looked back into the hallway, "Danny, sweetie, what were you doing in the basement, and did you see where the creature you and your dad caught went?"

Danny walked into the living room where the Strongholds were sitting, looking slightly nervously at his parents, "Ehe, not really. Maybe it ran away."

Clearly, this family had issues. And not the kind you can by at the supermarket for $9.99 for a dozen of them.

* * *

In the end, the two families judged each other to be decent people, and Danny took the clothes he packed before the fishing trip to leave with the Strongholds with a promise to return after settling in a bit to get more of his baggage.

* * *

Hint: Reviews are an author's ambrosia.

AN: I didn't mean to make Sam so clingy. In cannon, she likes Danny but in this story they can't hang out very much anymore. She's at her breaking point right now. It's necessary. The way I see it, she sees that Danny is slipping away from them and she doesn't like it. She ought to go back to her regular self next time she shows up. Also, please ignore the slightly (ok really) improbable action of parents trusting their child to virtual strangers. If someone really wants me to, I can re-write the last scene so that it involves more getting-to-know-you time, but the end result will be the same.

AN2: I had a review on chapter 3 recently that told me maybe I should clear up something. In this story, the Greek and Roman gods are real. "Calling on" them has fallen into disuse. Ghosts (and other supernatural beings) were sealed away behind a barrier to keep them out of mischief. The gods can do stuff since they cannot be sealed away by mortal means, but they only rarely do so as it interferes with the barrier and weakens it. It is more of a bragging right than anything else. Kind of like "Well my family follows this god, and therefore my family is better" for most people. Mostly though it is tradition passed on since they know the gods are supposed to be coming back (even if they don't know when). They don't want the gods to be angry at them collectively later when they finally do come back. All in all it is mostly a social thing (not religious) for this story. Mostly lip service, not anything else.

AN3: I won't have a pairing vote, but I may have a vote on what classes Danny will be taking.

AN4: School has started. I don't know how often I will update, since I don't know how busy I will be (and how difficult I will find my classes) but I will do my absolute best to at least maintain my current updating schedule.


	8. Chapter 7: New Beginnings

AN: Sorry for the late update. School and work are eating into all of my free time. This chapter is also un-beta'ed since my beta also has school…

On the bright side, I am still working on the story (and have the whole thing loosely outlined); on the down side, I don't have a lot of time to type it up (I have taken to writing it down on paper that I carry with me everywhere…). Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter. It's a bit of a filler, but it is an important transition. Please read and review. Maybe you can pick out the important tidbits I purposely threw in.

AN2: The Sky High gang was excited in the previous chapter because if they did this well, they would be able to start heroing by the next summer (the summer before their junior year) which is a whole two years before they thought they would be able to.

Thanks to all my reviewers Thunderstorm101, lemmesee, LiLIndianPrinzess, wolfey141, Evilwings, caffienatedlackey, angel-phantom-babii, brightshadow 5, Golden feathers Edward, Armored Soul, and FlyingShadow666.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 7: New Beginnings

The awkward silence was oppressive due to the several hour drive back to Maxville being mostly silent. To give credit where credit was due the Strongholds tried to start several conversations in the first hour, but you can only hold a conversation for so long with someone you barely know and who is additionally a grudging participant in the conversation. They gave it a valiant try, but in due course the last conversation suffocated and died on the back seat where Danny sat. They decided to leave well enough alone and Danny to his thoughts.

Eventually, around the time they were nearing their destination, Danny willingly broke the silence, "So, who are you guys? Or am I not allowed to know?"

The Strongholds knew he wasn't referring to their cover identities, Josie laughed, "If we didn't want you to know, you certainly wouldn't have been allowed to attend Sky High. Especially since we attended. I'm Jetstream, and my husband is the Commander." Noting Danny's gob smacked expression, she hurriedly continued pointing to herself and her husband, "Don't worry, you can just call us Josie and Steve."

"R-right," was the dazed reply. "I'm supposed to stay with you?" Trying to push is shock away, Danny asked, "So, what happens now?"

"Right now you get settled in. Tomorrow a representative from Sky High will come and help you figure out what classes you need to take this summer and try to help you plan the fall semester, and in the evening we'll have a dinner to introduce you to the people who will be helping you for the next year."

"Busy times," murmured Danny as they pulled into a driveway.

* * *

Later the next day, Danny's head was reeling. The representatives from the school had come earlier in the day. They planned out his summer and fall semesters already. Since he had previously taken a year of school at a regular high school and lived among civilians for most of his life, they decided to let him test out of as many civil classes as he could. That would help to decrease his required work load. It also meant that he had freshman level Civil Academics, Civil Mathematics, Civil Historical Instruction, and Civil Theology all more or less bagged—as long as he tested-out well enough in them of course.

When the representatives were basically talking over his head and ignoring any input Danny tried to give, he started to look at the list of classes offered at Sky High. After looking at the classes he would still need to take, he was surprised to see a class or of two non-civilian classes that he might be able to test out of. One of these classes was Foundations of Mad Science; or Mad Science for short. It took a bit of arguing, but he got the school representatives to agree to let him try and test out of the Foundations of Mad Science class, and Mad Science Mathematical Instruction. All of the studying he did for his parents' weapons had to come in handy somewhere. Who knew that Clockwork knew what he was talking about?

Unfortunately they told Danny that Save the Citizen and Power Exercise classes were mandatory for every semester that he plans to attend Sky High. He was hoping that he could get equivalency credits on the fact that he went heroing on a regular basis in the past and had plans to continue it over the weekends during the next year so his skills wouldn't get rusty. On the bright side, Save the Citizen was a public display to allow your fellow heroes to get to know your fighting style and problem solving methods, and Power Exercise always worked best when done with other sentient opponents Danny was told, the classes were typically not run during the summer because not enough students came to summer school to make it worth-while.

The whole process of picking what he would not have to take took over two hours. Danny expected the process to choose what classes he _would_ take to be similar. Luckily, he was wrong.

For summer I, he was signed up for Comparative Team/Power Groups, Ethics and Civil Politics. The first class seemed kind of interesting. It was tucked away in a corner of the Freshman level page of the booklet with the list of the classes offered. The synopsis read "classification of a hero's abilities, and how to combine them to make the best functioning team." It'd be nice to be able to tell what kind of powers he had. The other two, however, were mandatory.

For summer II, he was assigned Civil Economics, Superhero history, and Villain history. The last two were self-explanatory. But the first one confused him. Civil Economics, as it was explained to him, was just a class to study how villain/hero interactions affect the civilian economic structure.

There was only one trial left for the day: meeting his prospective tutors for the next year.

* * *

Danny was going to lose his mind from worry about what kind of people his prospective tutors were going to be. Danny knew they couldn't be _bad_ people… could they? They went to a hero school after all…

Mrs. Strongh—Josie wouldn't let him help out with dinner. He didn't know the area well enough to take a walk to get rid of his nervous energy. In his mood, Danny wasn't good company for anyone, so he did not want to go spend time with Will and Mr.—Steve. That was so _weird_. The Stronghold parents insisted he call them by their first names since "we are peers in the hero world." But, still, Danny was giving it his best try.

Left with no other options, Danny paced the room the Strongholds gave him. Just as Mrs.—Josie called him downstairs since dinner was ready and everyone was starting to arrive, Danny felt he could have kicked himself in frustration. He just realized he could have gone flying through town invisibly. It would have served a three-fold purpose: it would have gotten his mind off of the dinner, it would have helped him get to know the area, and most importantly it would have helped him work off some of his nervous energy.

Sighing in frustrated resignation, Danny trudged off downstairs.

* * *

"Nice to meet you, Danny" said a strawberry blonde girl, Layla if Danny remembered correctly. "I hope you enjoy your time with us."

"I hear you are already super-heroing. That's so cool! So, what's your alter-ego's name?" asked a boy of average height who reminded Danny of Tucker, but without the beret, less technology and wearing way more orange. Okay so he wasn't a lot like Tuck at all, but there was something about him, maybe it was the way he just seemed to know so many random bits of information.

"What does that make us?" was the indignant cry from Steve Stronghold. "Chopped liver?"

"Sorry, Mr. Stronghold. It's just, you're an adult, he's our age," explained Magenta, the girl with vivid purple streaks in her hair—her goth look and the purple reminded Danny again of his other friend, Sam, with a pang of homesickness.

Seeing that the Stronghold patriarch was mollified by the answer, Danny felt it safe to reply, "Danny Phantom, though the press tried to call me Inviso-bill." Danny's grimace spoke volumes about what he thought about that name.

"Principal Powers already told us that, Ethan. Weren't you listening?" Turning to Danny, Warren asked, "What made you choose something so similar to your true name? That's practically asking for discovery."

"I remember why your name sounded so familiar now," interrupted Zack, "Wasn't there something on the news a while back about some guy claiming to be a ghost breaking into banks? Was that you—because that was not cool, man." This came from the boy named Zack. It surprised Danny that he would have known anything about that. Zack seemed like the sort to be too laid back to pay attention to things not in his immediate vicinity, but Danny guessed that was the point.

"Well, yes and no," Danny hesitantly answered, drawing into himself. He was already having second thoughts about accepting the invitation to go to this school. His first night in Maxville, and the dinner they threw to get him acquainted to his fellow class mates, turned into an interrogation. At least at home he had people who understood him.

Perhaps seeing the hesitation, and regret written clearly on Danny's face, Josie Stronghold cut into the conversation. "Let's not turn this into an interrogation everybody. Danny, you only have to answer if you want to," she said kindly, setting Danny at ease.

"Thanks, Mrs. Stronghold," said Danny smiling at her shyly. "It's okay. It's not a bad story, just embarrassing.

"Have you ever heard of the Circus Gothica?" Danny was disappointed to see that the answer was a universal no. He thought at least Magenta would have known something about it. "It was a circus that featured ghosts as its main attraction. The ringmaster, Freakshow, had a staff that he used to control the ghosts. He used the staff on me to make me and the other ghosts rob the banks and stuff. I eventually overcame the mind control so I could save the life of one of my best friends and the staff was broken in the process. Last I heard, the Guys in White had him," he trailed off uncomfortably, "but, they're a whole 'nother subject entirely."

"Who're—"began Zack curiously, but he was cut off by M—Josie asking quickly, "How did you get you powers? That is always a good story to hear from any first generation."

"I don't know about that," excused Danny reluctance coloring his tone, "It kinda hurt."

"The birthing of new life always hurts. It was the pain of your re-birth into someone new," stated Josie philosophically.

"Eh, right. Well I got my powers when one of my friends convinced me to climb into one of my parent's inventions to see what was wrong with it because it didn't work. The only problem was that it _did_ work, I knew better, but… Anyway, I got zapped when I fell against the on button—"

"Wait a minute, I thought you said you were on the inside?" questioned Zack incredulously.

"I _was_, my parents can be a little bit absent minded sometimes," Danny explained, shrugging helplessly while sporting a wry grin, "And here I am now.

"So, I have a few questions myself. Are all of you born with your powers, or do they develop slowly over time, or do they come at a certain age? Are powers linearly inheritable? Does a kid inherit the exact powers his or her parents have? I've been curious." Danny sighed in relief as the conversation flowed away from him.

* * *

Warren was mostly silent for the duration of the dinner, only speaking up to make the occasional comment. Most of his energy, however, was focused on observing his new partner-to-be. The kid definitely had potential. There were even some subtle hints that he might have had some kind of martial arts training is the way he moved. Maybe it was from his mom, Warren remembered the packet of information Powers gave him mentioned something about her having a black belt.

Warren thought it was amusing how obviously Danny tried to change the topic away from himself. He was pretty sure the elder Strongholds picked it up, but a surreptitious glance at his fellow students showed they thought nothing of it. Well, that's what they were going to school for after all.

In fact, Zack was so completely oblivious to Danny's intentions that he even brought the conversation _back_ to the newbie. Warren caught himself nearly smirking in amusement. He stopped himself. He had a reputation to maintain, besides there would be more time to mess with the kid later.

Warren cut off his musings to listen to Danny tell some story about a ghost named Spectra. Since he had the chance, he might as well start learning about his new opponents now. Every little bit helps, and Danny was probably the best source of Ghostly information this side of the Otherworld.

* * *

Hint: To an author, reviews are better than chocolate (but only barely). 


	9. Chapter 8: No Eaves to Drop From

AN: Sorry this chapter took so long. Finals were coming up and Organic Chemistry was kicking my but. Next semester is going to be as bad because I'm going to be taking O-chem 2. Starting this coming summer at the latest I should be able to go back to some kind of regular schedule. Until then, please stick with me. I haven't given up. I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review. If anyone has any suggestions on how to make this story better, I'm open to constructive criticism.

Thanks to all my reviewers FlyingShadow666, lemmesee, angel-phantom-babii, Thunderstorm101, StarAngel531, Armored Soul, Piece of Toast, PrincessVictoriaAnnMacbeth, Manyara, Golden feathers Edward, Touch of the Wind, Jess-Blade, and A Fool With Hot Chocolate.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 8: No Eaves to Drop From

Danny had just returned from Sky High for the day. He was a little anxious about being late for his tutoring session with the others, but he figured it couldn't be helped. Coach Boomer came back the day before from wherever he went for vacation and insisted on putting him through his paces. Danny just wanted to curl up on his bed and not move for a year—but his experiences as Phantom taught him, if nothing else, that that would be one of the worst things he could do. So he resisted the temptation, hence the reason he was heading to his room to get ready to take the hottest shower he could stand. He was already three hours late to be tutored, he figured another half an hour would make little difference.

He was trudging down to the end of the hallway, past Will's room to gather his shower supplies. Just as he was passing Will's door, he heard his name. Danny, nearly tripping over his feet in suspicion (and perhaps no small amount of exhaustion), hesitated by the door, debating the pros and cons of putting off his shower and seeing what Will was talking about and with whom he was talking.

While he was waffling in indecision, he heard the other voices. It seemed like all of his tutors were there plus one extra: all of the non-Stronghold guests from the dinner from a couple of weeks ago were in there. Making up his mind to do both and neither, Danny inched toward the door so he could hear what they were saying easier. It sounded like they were talking about his Comparative class. He just finished with it for the summer last week; he didn't think he would have to be thinking about it again so soon! Especially since his grades hadn't even come back yet. Danny re-gathered is strength to resume his trek until he actually _heard_ what they were saying.

"That's so cool man, let's do it!" That was Zack of course, he was fun to hang around with, and enthusiastic about everything he did. He put Danny at ease in this new culture that happened to be so similar and yet so different at the same time. It was hard to get too worked up about the hero culture with Zack around. If Danny had a say in it, he would call that one of Zack's Gifts.

"It's not that simple, Dayglow." Warren. Speaking of unofficial gifts, Warren had one or two traits that Danny would like to assign to him. He still didn't know what to think about the pyro. Sometimes he seemed like a pretty decent guy, then the very next moment, Warren would say or do something that equated with practically begging to be throttled to death. Irritating pest.

"If we could do it, we would show the world that having heroes of different power levels and types working together is the better option. We could show that there is no such thing as a lesser power, just powers with different uses. Powers that are less obviously helpful but still helpful nonetheless. This could help them see that the current system isn't working that well. They still haven't changed anything from the Royal Pain incident."

"You know the old farts at the top don't like change, Layla. Especially against_tradition_, it would take a disaster of cataclysmic proportions for them to admit anything they are doing is not the best way, let alone that they are wrong." Magenta in many ways reminded him of Sam. Mostly in general attitude and the way she dressed. In interests and opinions, however, Layla matched up with Sam better.

Ethan spoke up next, "But there _is_ precedent. Nobody can argue against that."

Listening to them, Danny had an unexpected wave of homesickness. He figured the conversation didn't really have anything to do with him, so he decided to leave before he got too sore to actually take a shower.

* * *

Danny had never found school so invigorating. He already was in the middle of the Summer II session, and the classes still held his attention the way _regular_ classes had ever been. Even his Civil Economics classes were arresting. He thought it was going to be like a regular economics class from a civilian school. Instead, he was learning how the hero and villain interactions affected the civilian economic structure, both the good and the bad parts of it. 

According to his teachers, heroes always were supposed to be conscious of their surroundings. The most obvious reason was so as to not be caught off-guard in a fight against a villain. The other reason had never crossed his mind, though it probably should have, was because of the damage that the fight caused. A little bit was expected, and the tourism into the city when it has a hero should pay for it with the increased revenue. Still, it was always better to try and minimize the damage while taking out their opponent. For some heroes, it could be a difficult line to walk.

It probably didn't hurt that he got to hear about the hero and villain fights from the perspective of a hero. Actually he was supposed to be studying with Ethan today, but he got out of school early so Will's dad offered to help with his own experiences as most children a Sky High used their own family members' experiences for the class. Danny was allowed to use the family members of his tutors for this class instead. By the end of the semester he was expected to use some of his own. Who knew that Clockwork forcing him to go over his fights so often would help in other things? Besides Clockwork that is.

Steve was telling him about how one of his fights with Necrotic on one of the plains states affected the surrounding fauna when Josie interrupted Steve's reminiscing with a phone call for Danny from his mom.

"Hi, sweetie! I know we usually wait until the weekend to call you, but I keep forgetting to ask you," was the cheerfully loving voice.

"Hi, mom," replied Danny after an expectant pause. "What were you going to ask me?"

"Well, we wanted to thank your host family, and maybe get to know some of your knew friends better," said his mom in a cheerfully roundabout way. Danny was already getting a bad feeling about this. "And we missed your birthday since you were at school," continued his mom, a little tearfully now. "We've never missed your birthday before," she sniffled.

"Yeah, I know, mom," replied Danny guiltily. "But this school is already doing a lot for me. I really like it here," he persisted hesitantly, frowning in worry that they might have changed their mind about letting him attend this school.

"Your father and I know that. It's just," said his mom thickly, "we feel like we're losing you." Danny winced feeling a pain go through his chest at the statement. "You know we want what's best for you, you know we do."

He clutched the phone in his hand, his instincts telling him something bad was coming. "Yeah. I know," whispered Danny in reply. "Mom… is something wrong? Is somebody sick or something?"

"No," she sniffled. "I'm just getting a little off-topic. I didn't mean to go on this tangent. We want you to enjoy your time there."

"You know, mom, once the summer session is over, I'll be coming home for two weeks. I just couldn't this summer because the classes were so intense. And, you know that I'll be visiting almost every weekend when the Fall term starts, right?"

"Actually that's what I wanted to talk to you about, Danny. Your father and I want you to invite your friends and tutors over for as long as their parents will let them stay for those two weeks. We want to get to know the people in your life. You can do that, can't you? There's no harm in asking, right Danny?"

"Of course, mom," he hurried to assure her, "it'll be no problem."

"Great," was the suddenly cheerful reply. "We'll start getting ready for them. Do you think any of them would mind sleeping in the Op Center? No matter, we'll figure something out. Love you, Danny. We can't wait until you come back to us. Bye."

Dazed, Danny replied belatedly, "Bye, mom." After he hung up, Danny realized exactly what he agreed to do for his parents. What did he get himself into? Another thought wormed his way into his head: "Who knew his mom was such a manipulator?" followed closely by "Huh. Maybe that's where Jazz got it from." and lastly, "So much for learning to be alert and aware of my surroundings."

* * *

Several weeks later, after the last of the Summer Finals, Danny slogged into the Stronghold house, drooping in mental physical and emotional exhaustion from the stress that accumulated after his mother's call and trying to keep up with the heavy work-load of taking full-time schooling during the summer. He was eager to just lie down and rest for a few hours, despite it being the middle of the afternoon. 

"Woohoo!" ambushed Zack just as he made it through the door, "You need to celebrate man! You have a whole two and a half weeks of freedom before you have to get back to the grind." Peering closer at him, Zack deflated, "At least look a little bit happy."

Unfortunately for Danny the others were coming up behind Zack and Warren was not so ready to let things go. "You look like you've been asked to go to a funeral, what's bothering you?"

Danny internally waffled on the answer. After a brief hesitation he answered, "I'm just tired from finals. I'll be glad to have a little bit of a rest right now."

"I don't think so. This is more than that. I didn't want to bring it up while you were trying to study for finals, but now that they're over I have no problem with it. Fess up, what's been bothering you?"

Danny cringed. He had been hoping that he could claim that he _forgot_. His conscience could not allow him to completely avoid the topic once it had been brought up—of course, it hadn't been brought up _yet_. This would have been a good time to have taken the Covert Identity Cover class since they teach, among other things, heroes to be able to come up with convincing lies at a moment's notice.

"You might as well tell us. You're not a very good liar," was Magenta's wry reminder. "We've had all summer to get used to you and your quirks. Fess up. It can't be that bad, and if it is we should be able to come up with a way to take care of it somehow."

Internally sighing, Danny acknowledged that, yes, it wasn't really that bad and perked up at the internal reminder that maybe they couldn't go because it was so last-minute.

* * *

"You guys and your parents are crazy. I'm just letting you know." The entire group was in a van heading towards Amity. Warren was driving and wisely chose to ignore Danny until they got into Amity proper to get more specific directions to his house lest he get too irritated with Danny's whining. 

"Stop sulking, Danny. What kind of self-respecting heroes-in-training would we be if we turned up the chance to visit the current ghost capital of the world?" questioned Zack.

"Yeah. How many times does a person get to observe ghosts anyway?" questioned Ethan ignoring Danny muttered reply of "Smart ones". "Besides, it should be good for us. If what you told us this summer is true that the barrier is weakening, then we _need_ this experience. What are you going to do when other places in the barrier start to fail? You can't be everywhere at once."

Danny had no reply to that except to say, "Welcome to Amity, guys. Next stop: Fentonworks."

* * *

Hint: Reviews pave the path to the promised land of updates. 

Can anyone guess where I got the title of this chapter? I love irony. What do you think the gang was talking about in the beginning of this chapter? Only time will tell, because I'm not (yet).

The next chapter will have the rest of the Amity scene. Sam and Tucker will make an appearance. I've posted Danny's summer and fall schedules up on my Profile. I'll even try to put up definitions of the classes since the names might not be obvious at first to people who are not me what they mean. If anyone wants to use any of the classes feel free, please, just tell me. I have a whole slew of classes made up.

Tentative title for next chapter: Definition of Wild.


	10. Chapter 9: Definition of Wild

AN: I hope you enjoy the new chappie

AN: I'm sorry this update took so long. I had hoped to get this chapter out before this semester even started and here it is, almost at the end of the semester. I knew this semester would be challenging and time consuming. On the bright side, this chapter is pretty big (11 pages). I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review.

Thanks to all my reviewers Thunderstorm101, A Fool With Hot Chocolate, Twisted Truth, RowenaRaven, Touch of the Wind, angel-phantom-babii, PrincessVictoriaAnnMacbeth, Kandei, Syuveil, Jess-Blade, darkhorse111, Golden feathers Edward, and chalicity. Getting reviews really kicks my but into gear and lets me know that there are people who enjoy the fruits of my labor.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 9: Definition of Wild

Danny was not naturally given to introspection. Clockwork, however, taught him to stop taking events as they come and to try to anticipate them. It works great for predicting and planning for ghost attacks ahead of time. Unfortunately, he also noticed a tendency to occasionally (with emphasis on the occasionally) over think things.

It was several hours after their arrival in Amity and Danny was getting worried and maybe a little hurt. He was sitting in a corner of the house where he just so happened to be sitting at a window that had a view of the street out front. Sam and Tucker still hadn't been by to see him, and they said they would be. They ought to have been there by now. Heck, they should have been waiting for him to return.

Or, maybe they realized over the summer how much better their lives were without him. Maybe they thought he was a burden and that he had been taking them for granted. Danny wouldn't have been able to blame them. It wasn't like he had a whole lot of time to spend with them since the CAT incident and he had to take up studying with Clockwork.

For a moment his self-doubt was crushing. Then he glanced at his family and new friends and allowed the sight of them to ground him. This was Amity Park , the original place of the weird and supernatural—or at least for modern-day it is. Besides which, he was both a Fenton and a halfa hero. The normal rules didn't really apply to his life. The most obvious (normal) answer was probably not the right one.

"What's on your mind, little brother? They seem to be heavy thoughts," broke in the overly perky voice of his sister. "The next two weeks are supposed to be fun and relaxing." Without waiting for him to reply, she leaned in and continued in a more serious tone, nearly whispering the words, "No really, what's bothering you? I don't see my brother for a couple of months and the next thing I know he seems to have taken on the weight of the world. If that is what that school is doing to you, I'm not sure I approve."

"Well—no, it's stupid. I'm sure it's nothing. Don't worry about it Jazz. It doesn't have anything to do with school."

Seeing that she had to be a little more aggressive with her brother, she decided to play hardball, "I could always go to mom and dad and d—"

"Don't you dare!" hissed Danny furiously in alarm, holding her arm in a death grip. His mind immediately conjured horrific images of his parents confining their precious baby his room and completely suffocating him in affection and worry if they had even a hint of an idea that something was wrong with him. Maddie Fenton really put the mother in smother.

"I'm just worried about Sam and Tuck. They promised they would be here. Of course, that was two months ago. I didn't have much time to do much outside of school, including call them. They may have gotten fed up and changed their minds…" Danny trailed off as doubt crowded into his mind again.

"Ahh," Jazz said in that infuriatingly knowing tone of hers, "You're worried they might have moved on without you. You know, you shouldn't bottle up your emotions like that, it's not healthy. You're right though. They ought to be here or at least sent a message if they changed their minds. We should ask—"

"You two are looking pretty cozy over here. Don't you know it's rude to ignore your guests?" questioned a sardonic Warren as he leaned casually against the corner.

Jazz uncharacteristically flared up, "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt a private conversation?!"

"Don't worry, Jazz. He's just like that," soothed Danny. Turing to Warren he said, "We were just talking about how my friends weren't here when they said they would be. It's not like them to casually go back on their word like that."

"Hmm," was Warren's understanding rejoinder. Danny had to turn away from the perceptive look in Warren 's eyes, "Did you tell them you were coming? They may have just lost track of time."

"Yeah," replied Danny softly, not noticing Jazz moving discretely out of the room.

"When was the last time you spoke?"

"Two months ago, just before I left for Maxville, and they had to go to some… thing for school. Some kind of community bonding exercise the counselors thought the kids in my class needed to go through—" Danny was suddenly cut off by a screech coming from the other end of the house. Recognizing it a Jazz's he rushed over, preparing himself by being just this side of powering up.

When Danny and Warren arrived at the other room they stopped in relief at the doorway to asses the situation only to find a sheer lack of anything actively life-threatening (as there can be in the Fenton household) in the immediate area. Danny and his guests quickly wandered over, curious to see what had Jazz so upset.

"Why hasn't anyone done anything?" demanded Jazz angrily at her parents.

"Sweetie, we wanted to," soothed Maddie, "But it's out of our hands and jurisdiction. The Guys in White took over the case. We've been stonewalled."

Danny couldn't take it anymore; he had to interrupt before his head exploded. Whatever it was it sounded pretty serious. Quickly sorting his thoughts, he did his best to sound casual, "What's going on, mom? Jazz?"

"Did Sam and Tuck tell you about the trip they were going on for school?" began Maddie carefully. At Danny's hesitant nod she continued, "The trip was supposed to be over last Friday. They never returned. The police were sent to the area to check it out, when they didn't find a lot of evidence about anything except two month old evidence that the kids actually had been there, we were called in." Here Maddie paused and took a deep breath as if to brace herself against something unpleasant. Danny found himself reacting to her tension.

"Well? What did you find?" he asked anxiously, dreading the answer he already knew.

"Sweetie, the place was crawling with spectral energy, and it looked like a lot of ghosts had been in the area around two months ago and then just mysteriously disappeared."

The first thing Danny felt at the explanation was relief followed closely by shame. What did it say about him that he would rather have had his friends kidnapped by ghosts than to have them suddenly come to their senses and decide to drop him like one of Baxter's old gym shorts.

"I guess this is where these Guys in White people come in?" Danny jumped. He had actually forgotten that his new friends from Maxville were there. He collected himself in time to see his mom nodding in response the Will's question. "So, who are they exactly?"

"They are a completely incompetent governmental agency who like to pretend at being ghost hunters," was Maddie's contemptuous reply.

"But with cool toys!" The rest of the group ignored Jack's outburst while taking in the information provided.

"Well," exclaimed Maddie, her cheer coming back, "no use crying over spilled ectoplasm. Since you kids are going to be staying here for a while, we should probably teach you a bit about ghost fighting and maybe introduce you to some of our weapons."

"We'd love to—"

Thinking quickly Danny interrupted Ethan from accepting a mistake, "Don't you think we should get them settled in, mom? We should let them know where they're going to stay and let them unpack before we get to any really heavy stuff."

"Nonsense," said Jack, "besides we won't have time until tomorrow to really introduce you to all of the gadgets if we don't start now."

Blessing his good fortune, Danny responded in relief, "That's okay, I can tell them about the really important stuff, and Jazz can tell them about anything new." Besides, he continued in his head, she can tell me what to look out for.

Thinking about it, his parents agreed, but only on the understanding that they would be very careful.

* * *

"So, what are we going to do?" questioned an overeager Zack. "We're ready to go when you are."

"_We_ are doing nothing. _I_ am going to save my friends and classmates, _you_ are going to stay here where it's safe," asserted a distracted Danny as he looked through the remains of what was left in his room for the pamphlet Sam and Tuck has shown him so he could get more information about the area. He couldn't remember too much about it since he was pretty excited about going to a school for heroes. Who would be able to concentrate under those conditions anyway?

"I don't think so, Casper," Warren interrupted Danny from his musings, "You have to at least take me since we've been assigned to work together. If you don't then you'll be heroing illegally."

Danny jerked his head up in surprise, "What! Oh, hey, there it is." He had forgotten that he pinned up the camp pamphlet up to his wall behind this computer so he wouldn't loose it. He reached out to take it off the wall, only to have it snatched out of his hands by an irritated Warren.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"Yes!" hissed an equally angry Danny, his eyes glowing green unknown to him. "I was just trying to not get distracted while I was looking for that."

"I'm guessing this is where they went," surmised Will, looking over Warren's shoulder at the pamphlet filled with normal looking greenery and wildlife. "It doesn't look like a place that would be haunted."

"What does a place have to look like to be haunted, Will?" asked Magenta. "Why does a place have to be creepy to be haunted?"

"I'm just saying…"

Danny's frustration levels rose with every uncaring word he heard. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, "Guys! Can we get back on track?"

"Chill out, dude. They've been missing for months; a few more minutes won't make that much of a difference."

Taking a deep breath, Danny made a concerted effort to calm down. "I know," he sighed, "it's just that, if I'd have been there—"

"You can't play the 'what if' game. It'll only drive you crazy," soothed Layla. "You have to focus on what is, not what might have been. Focus on what is in your ability to change, be productive." Seeing that he was calming down, she continued, "That said, we're still going with you. It'd be a good idea to let us get some experience fighting ghosts. After all, wasn't that one of the reasons our parents let us come on such short notice?"

"Yes, but, you guys… it's dangerous. You don't know how to fight these guys."

"That's the whole point," pointed out Ethan reasonably, "for us to learn, right? So we can learn in a semi-safe way with someone who can keep us from messing up too badly," he added on with a grin.

Danny couldn't help but smile back. Maybe it would be okay. Maybe things weren't as bad as they seemed. A problem shared is a problem halfed, right? Right!?

"Great!" They all turned startled in the direction of Danny's door only to see Jazz walk in. "If you guys are going to go fight ghosts, you'll need weapons. I don't know what kind of abilities you have, but unless it is in any way anti-ghost you'll need some of these, and if you are anything like Danny you'll learn these weapons better if you use them. It'll be the proverbial two birds and a single stone. You can learn about these weapons like we promised our parents, and you get to go get hands-on anti-ghost experience."

"Jazz, how long were you out there?"

"Not long. Just long enough to hear you guys work out your problems and come to a reasonable compromise."

"So pretty much for the whole conversation?"

"Yep, but that's not our primary objective, little brother. We need to get them caught up, and you need to come up with a plan of action. I was thinking you can tell them about as many of the weapons as you can, and I'll tell them anything you couldn't remember, or anything that's new."

And so the induction of the Sky High gang into ghost fighting began.

* * *

"This is so lame," complained Zack, "why do we have to go there this way?"

Danny did his best to ignore Zack's whines and just answer the question… for the third time while keeping the Specter Speeder both on the right course and making sure that the invisibility booster was still working. He, Sam, and Tuck installed it late at the end of the school year as a kind of bonding experience. "Because, Zack, we don't know where they might have been taken in the Otherworld. It's a big place."

"Well, then, why don't we just take one of the portals to that area so we can get there faster?"

"There's no guarantee that it would be faster, besides I've never been to this park and even if I did I would need to know a portal to go there first—and if I knew that, we probably would know where they were taken anyway. Don't worry Zack, you'll get a chance to go into the Ghost Zone part of the Otherworld soon enough."

"Sweet."

Glad that Zack calmed down again, Danny went back to concentrating on flying the Speeder. Zack had been okay for a short while after they began their journey until it came time to take the Speeder out of the basement. They went into the Otherworld for a short time before exiting thorough a portal that lead to the outskirts of Amity Park. All that meant was that Zack felt the need to ask him the same question every quarter hour or so.

Thanking whoever was in charge of his life that their destination was in sight, Danny took a look around, "Woah." The camp had a vague similarity to the brochure he remembered looking at, but in a more broken down and creepy kind of way.

"Now _that_ looks haunted," stated Will. The whole group gathered around the front viewer in silence. Danny sat in silence as he began fiddling with some of the controls on the dashboard, mainly to not stare at the skin-tight suits most people were wearing, especially since he was sitting down and everyone else was standing…

"Your school thought this would be a good place to send their kids?" asked Layla weakly.

"It doesn't surprise me," replied Danny distractedly as he used the Speeder's scanning equipment to lock onto the highest point of spectral energy. "They were always kind of cheap with anything that didn't have anything to do with sports or cheerleading."

"No kidding," deadpanned Warren, "It's no wonder the people of your town have such a high ghost-contact rate if they pull stunts like this."

"I'm going to head in to that area by the waterfall. It seems that the largest concentration of spectral energy is there, though it's hard to be sure. The whole place is saturated. I wouldn't be surprised if the whole place is riddled with small portals. If that's the case, then they might have just fallen into the Otherworld and not been able to find their way back out."

The others listened to Danny's voice worriedly. This might end up being a complicated search-and-rescue instead of a regular old hero style rescue mission. "Well, there's only one way to find out," stated Danny as he directed the speeder to the bank by the waterfall.

* * *

The group left the speeder to search the area in pairs. Everyone was given a pair of Fenton Phones to keep in touch and since they had an odd number of people, they used rock paper scissors to decide who would have to stay behind in the Speeder to keep track of things. Magenta lost.

The people who left to search were all equipped with portable spectral scanners which while being less powerful than the one in the Speeder, they were also more accurate since they would only be able to pick up on the most powerful places where the energy was strongest _and_ they were all linked by satellite so they could triangulate where and how far the energies were. By combining the portable scanners with the one in the Speeder, they got a pretty comprehensive view of the immediate surroundings. Danny sometimes thought he had the best parents ever.

While they were out searching, one of the Guys in White men found them. "Hey!" came and outraged voice, "What do you kids think you're doing? This place is dangerous. You're in violation of code 6-3A, sub section 64B, sub-sub section—"

Will came up to him with his all-American grin on while pulling out a card from only the gods knew where, "We're sorry to disturb you, sir, but my companions and I are legally licensed by the government to be here. We're here to investigate some non-mundane disappearances."

The government employee snatched the card out of Will's hand and scrutinized it carefully for several long minutes before discontentedly handing it back as if unhappy that he could not legitimately kick them out of the park. Will thanked any higher power that might have been listening that hero-in-training licenses were the same in appearance as full hero licenses—it added to the hero mystique. "Looks like it's all in order, if you find anything—stop right there ghost kid!" The man suddenly changed his stance and pulled out a large white gun and pointed it at Danny. "Come back to the scene of the crime?" he growled, "you won't get away with this."

Danny and Warren had chosen right at that moment to step out of the underbrush into the clearing where Will and the GIW agent were. Upon hearing the agent's voice, Danny threw himself backwards and immediately became intangible and invisible to avoid any shots that may have come his way. He circled around the clearing until he came across a patch of mud and got a great idea on how to lose the agent with a minimum of fuss if his friends wouldn't be able to do it. Releasing his intangibility, but holding on to his invisibility he scooped up a handful of mud and continued on his way back to the clearing but from a different direction.

When he got close enough, he heard those of his friends that were in the clearing arguing in his defense. Will was trying to explain to the paranoid government agent that Danny was also a licensed hero by the government, while Layla was reading him the riot act for jumping to conclusions ("What about innocent until proven guilty?"). Warren, on the other hand, took the route of confiscating the blaster the agent had aimed at Danny and glowering at him.

Seeing that they had everything in hand, Danny dropped the mud on the ground while going intangible for a second to make sure all traces of it were gone.

Dropping the invisibility and intangibility he stepped out and said, "It's all right guys. I pretty much get that reception wherever I go."

"No it's not alright, Phantom. What about your basic human rights?"

"Layla, according to the law, as it currently stands ghosts have no rights. Besides, legally I am classified as an ectoplasmic mass of post-human consciousness—or something like that." There was a small pause as the three pre-heroes took that in.

"It doesn't matter," asserted Will, backing up Layla, "you are here legally whatever your technical legal status is. He had no right to accuse you without proof, or attempt to take you in for 'lots and lots of really painful experiments." That last bit he aimed toward the agent who was still cowering in fear at Warren. "You can be sure I'll report this to the ethics committee. For now, we are taking control of this investigation per governmental edict…"

Danny let Will handle the legal aspect of things while speaking in an aside to Warren and Layla, "Thanks guys. They never were very reasonable people to deal with, especially when you're seen as a non-person."

"It was our pleasure. He really had no right to just start shooting at you like that."

"How can you stand it!" hissed Warren.

Danny looked at him in surprise, "I don't care about them and what they think. I just want to keep my friends and family safe. Everything else is just extra. If I had to wait for some kind of positive recognition before doing anything, the whole of Amity would have already been taken over by ghosts many times over by now."

At this point Will finished taking care of the GIW agent and wandered over, "I guess you guys didn't find anything in your part of the woods?"

"No," replied Warren, "we found some small portals, but nothing big enough for a human to pass through, just small animals. This place is _crawling_ with animal ghosts the size of squirrels."

"Hey guys," called out Ethan's voice from the Fenton Phones, "we're behind the waterfall, look what Zack and I found."

"Let's go get Maj, and see what they found."

* * *

It turns out that Ethan and Zack found a large portal big enough for several adult humans to pass through at the same time.

"Well, I guess we can rule out the possibility that they accidentally fell through into the Otherworld," commented Warren sardonically, "unless people from your town are in the habit of taking strolls behind creepy waterfalls."

Ignoring Warren, Danny studied the portal and said, "You guys wait here, I'll go check it out and come back so we can make up a plan of attack." When protests started up, Danny continued, "It'll be easier to get in and out unnoticed if we limit the number of people going in, and I should go in for reconnaissance since I am most familiar with the pitfalls of the Otherworld." Not giving them a chance to come up with excuses to stop him, Danny dove right in.

Immediately on the other side, Danny noticed that the area looked very familiar. He had a sinking feeling in his gut as he identified the area as Walker the Ghost Warden's prison. Fighting the urge to leave immediately, he scouted the area so he could have something good to report to the others.

* * *

"It's definitely a ghost shield surrounding the container that is holding the people from my school. It looks like everyone is trapped in some kind of oatmeal looking goo that you would get at school. Kind of appropriate if you think about it."

"Are you sure we can get through this shield?"

"You won't even notice it as a human."

* * *

"Took you long enough to show up, brat." Danny was distracting Walker while the others worked to get the captive prisoners. Danny silently urged him to start monologing so he wouldn't get suspicious about Danny's presence, and maybe start to wonder whether he brought any helpers. Sure enough Walker started gloating about how he and his men went to find Wulf who had inconsiderately escaped after his people went to all of the trouble of tracking him down and re-capturing him. It was just a bonus that he came across the ghost kid's friends. Unfortunately Walker had the capacity to gloat and shoot at Danny at the same time, so Danny had to dodge Walker's blasts, return his own, look out for where he was going _and_ try and listen for hints as to whether this was just a random kidnapping or if there might have been some kind of conspiracy against him. Luckily it looked like it was the former rather than the later.

To add to the chaos, Danny began freeing the captive ghosts in the prison. It couldn't hurt his cause anyway. In the process, he freed Wulf as well who helped him by taking down Walker when he was distracted. The other prisoners threw a revolt against Walker's Ghost Cops, proving that his plan worked.

Danny stuffed Walker in one of his own cells and left with Wulf following to see if the others needed any help with their part.

* * *

Only thirty minutes after making the call, Mr. Medulla arrived. It took another three hours before he was able to tell them anything.

As it was, he was ecstatic at what he found, "It's amazing, it's like no kind of suspended animation I've ever seen. The substance has the taste, color, consistency, and odor of thin oatmeal—and yet it is capable of holding people in a state of combined suspended animation and deep sleep if you can believe it. If we can recreate it and modify it for our specific purposes, we have the potential of revolutionizing the medical field!"

"How does he know what it tastes like?" questioned Ethan disgustedly.

Trying to get back on track, Danny asked, "So it won't harm them to take them out of the sludge? No lasting side-effects?"

"Haven't you been listening to what I was saying? They'll be perfectly fine. They might have a bit of a headache, but that's it."

"I always knew oatmeal was bad for me," muttered Zack to the others.

"Thank you, Mr. Medulla. You can take the whole thing for samples if you'll give us a moment to get everybody out."

"Dude, Danny, I think you've become Mr. Medulla's favorite person."

* * *

After removing everybody from the oatmeal-suspended-animation-sleep goo, Danny and the others laid them out in rows on the ground while waiting. It took several hours for everybody to wake up. The only good part of the whole thing was the fact that Danny could get everybody out intangibly so no one had to get oatmealed while getting the former captives out and they could all be goo-free while they were being handled.

Unfortunately one of the first people to wake up was Paulina. Another unfortunate incident was the fact that Danny didn't notice she had awakened as he was talking with Will about what he did with the GIW agent at the time.

"Phantom, I always knew you'd come to save me!" Danny barely had time to tense in alarm before he was assaulted by an overly happy cheerleader. She seemed to have forgotten any lingering physical pain left over from the goo at the sight of her hero.

"Uh, hi, Pau—uh I mean miss. Uh, well—" Danny could have sworn that she grew about six other arms since he was finding it impossible to escape her grasp. When he saw the others' smirking faces he embarrassedly remembered he could turn intangible. He did so, keeping his hand tangible on her shoulder so she wouldn't fall over, "Actually miss, it was a group effort. This group of people here helped."

She received a gentle nudge in their direction. When she turned back around to thank him, Phantom was nowhere to be seen (since he made himself invisible). Shaking off her disappointment she went off to the side, completely ignoring the others who helped save her, plotting the best way to tell everybody that she got a hug from Danny Phantom. Star was going to be so jealous. And of course, it would make her even more popular.

When Will saw this, he spoke up through is laughter after Danny became visible next to them, "Maybe we should go wait in the Speeder." Danny just glared at them since he knew the only reason Will even suggested that was because he did not want to come off as a complete lunatic to the citizens they just saved by laughing his head off in front of them. He would need to build up a reputation of being solid and dependable before he could pull something like that off. Without waiting for a reply, he left and the others followed.

The only reason any of the others stayed was because Danny grabbed Warren's arm and hissed quietly, "Warren, you can't have it both ways. Either you are my partner and I have to include you in my missions, or you are not and you get to leave."

Warren unhappily watched the others walk away. He really didn't want to have to deal with fan-girls if that other girl was an example of what they were like in Amity.

* * *

It was several hours later before everyone had woken up. Danny lured Sam and Tuck away while everyone else was packing up and getting ready to go. Since Sam and Tuck were among the first to get taken, it was really easy for them to pack up as they had hardly unpacked.

"Hey guys, I want you to meet my two best friends since forever, Sam Manson and Tucker Foley. Sam, Tuck, these are my friends I made this summer," introduced Danny since he wasn't quite sure whether he was supposed to give their real names, and they didn't have code-names yet.

They half-heartedly exchanged pleasantries but were either too tired (the Sky High group) or had massive migraines from their oatmeal induced sleep and so agreed to meet at the Nasty Burger the next day for lunch.

* * *

Hint: Reviews are inspiring.

AN: Okay, so Sam and Tuck didn't show up in this chapter really. They ought to show up in the next one unless they decide to be difficult. Hopefully my next update won't take four months (and three days). Don't forget to drop a line if you have any suggestions on how to improve.

By the way, I am planning on using things from season three, but not in the order they were aired, nor am I going to use everything. Some things I just don't like, and others just don't fit with the story.


	11. Chapter 10: Amity's Irony

AN: I suppose I ought to give an explanation as to why my updating has been so poor since December. My mom was diagnosed with cancer around that time. I happen to be very close to her. The cancer was caught early, but it is still a rough thing to go through, even peripherally. So please be patient with me while my family and I go through this crisis. I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review.

I have a new betareader ShadowFox123 (SF123 for future reference). I hope you enjoy the chapter. Remember, any mistakes you may find are my own. Don't feel shy about pointing them out either.

Thanks to all my reviewers for the last chapter: Miriam1, Skyheart92, ShadowFox123, angel-phantom-babii.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Warning: Slashy hints in humorous context. Feel warned.

Chapter 10: Amity's Irony

Danny and his guests woke early the next day, Danny for being excited to see his two best friends again and the others from the exhilaration of performing hero work, even at an unacknowledged level. They were one tangible step closer to achieving their dreams. All they had to do at this moment was wait for a ghost to show up to get more experience.

Of course, given that they were teens, the fact that they woke up early didn't mean that it was actually early or that anyone else in the household was still asleep. Knowing this on an unconscious level, when Danny woke up he felt faintly apprehensive. He couldn't figure out why until he got to the kitchen.

His mom was cooking. Turning around quickly, he tried to warn the others to avoid the kitchen at all costs only to see them right behind him with Zack in the lead. They were already entering the kitchen before Danny could react.

"Oooh, smells like pancakes and sausage," murmured Zack appreciatively. Danny's hesitation resulted in mayhem as the sausages jumped up out of the plate and began attacking those closest to the table.

* * *

After Maddie apologized for the sausage incident, the entire household was in the kitchen eating what was left of the pancakes and some cereal.

"You know, hippie, I think I'm beginning to see your point about being a vegetarian," Warren stated tensely; being attacked by man-eating breakfast food was _not_ his idea of a great way to start the day.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I can look at a sausage ever again," moaned Zack morosely, turning to Danny he asked, "What was that anyway? Who _cooks_ food that then _attacks_ you?!"

"Sorry, you caught me off-guard. I was turning around to warn you but the next thing I knew you were already there. Normally we try to avoid anything my mom cooks, because, well, you can see the result. She cooks with inventions powered by ectoplasm." Danny couldn't help but shudder at the memory of the last time his mother cooked. "We should count our selves lucky; it doesn't always turn out this well."

"We can tell..." murmured Ethan, eating his safely mass-produced-elsewhere cereal.

* * *

"What are your plans for the day?" enthused Jack to the kids. "Do you want me to take you anywhere? Maddie and I were going to the mall later if you want to join."

Remembering the breakfast incident, the Sky High gang turned en mass to Danny to see his reaction. Some were beginning to think that they would be safer in a villain's lair. At least then they would know that they had to be cautious.

Danny's uneasy expression told them that they guessed right. "Uh, no thanks Dad. We were, that is, I was planning on showing them the area. Give them a chance to look around. It wouldn't be any fun for you if you had to stop every couple of miles for everybody to browse someplace new." Seeing Jack's crestfallen expression, he hurried on, "We'll be done looking around this evening, maybe we could do something then. Sam and Tuck might come around then, too."

"Great! The more the merrier. Well kids, the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll get done. See you this evening," encouraged Jack as he pushed them out the door.

"I'm guessing that avoiding having your dad drive you anywhere was something else you forgot to warn us about," Magenta popped off.

"Yeah," replied Danny sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "My family's kinda crazy, but those are the only things you ought to avoid; well, unless my parents want to show you their lab. You'd be stuck there for hours."

"So, it's okay to eat your dad's food but not your mom's, and your mom can drive you places but not your dad, and never let either of them lure you down to their lair-I mean lab, right?" At Danny's assent, Warren continued, "Good to know."

"Let's get this tour started, then meet up with your friends," encouraged Will.

* * *

The tour didn't take as long as they thought it would, even if it took longer than it would have if Jack was showing them around. As a result they decided to go to the Nasty Burger early. Unfortunately the least pleasant of Danny's former classmates were already there. Danny tried to avoid them, but it was no use as the A-list crowd saw Danny as he was heading back to the tables they had claimed after ordering his food.

He thought he was going to get lucky and the A-list people were going to ignore them. But as the minutes passed, Danny could see the other group getting rowdier. Where were Sam and Tuck anyway?

It looked like Dash was nominated supreme annoyance for the day by his friends as he was leading his 'friends' over to their table.

Dash's opening line when he got to their table was, "Haven't seen you around lately, Fenturd. I hear you were sent to a _special_ school. What happened? Did your family decide you couldn't keep up with the rest of us normal people?" Dash and his mindless drones all began to laugh uproariously; obviously they thought the blonde Neanderthal had said something hilarious.

"Oh, very witty, Dash. Did you fry your last brain cell to create that one?" Danny's voice and expression were the epitome of boredom, as he listlessly stared at a fry from his half-eaten Nasty Meal. "Anybody want this? Amazingly enough, I've lost my appetite. Fancy that."

Irritated, Dash tried to get under Danny's skin, "I bet you're stuck in the middle of no-wheresville, and what's worse you're not going to get a chance to see Phantom around anymore. You're such a looser."

Fighting his laughter against the irony, Danny got up out of the booth and stood waiting for the others to catch up. Warren was the first out of the booth and waited beside him.

Paulina had not been standing idly by during this time. Her finely honed sense of callous unkindness led her to checking out the newbies to see who would be best to check on next. Warren caught her eye. She didn't normally like goth-freaks, but this one was too delicious to pass up. Besides, any girl worth her salt would be able to change him into a proper boy ready to be seen in society with her.

She wasn't happy when he got up to stand next to the looser. Paulina, not one to let her prey escape tossed out to Danny, "It would be just like you to end up with another Goth-freak." Danny indignantly tried to deny with a "What do you mean 'another,'" but he was cut off when Paulina continued to Warren, "Why are you with _this_ dork when you could end up with someone cool and popular like me?" She sidled up to Warren, glancing at him coyly.

Warren resisted the urge to twitch violently. Where did this infantile teenager get off accusing him of being gay, and within the very same breath flirt and essentially do everything but proposition him? That was when Warren came by an epiphany. This would kill the proverbial two birds with one stone; plus, it would be entertaining to see his partner's reaction. He put his arm around Danny and said, "Why would I want to be with someone selfish and self-centered like you when I could be with someone cute and adorable like Danny, here?" He grinned down at Danny, their faces only inches apart. Luckily for their charade, or perhaps unluckily, the girls in the restaurant with any amount of interest oriented in the opposite sex were too busy melting into puddles of hormonal goo at the sight of Warren's smile to notice it was a mix of mischievous and amused rather than loving.

Danny for his part was about to die of mortification. It was all he could do to keep his powers in check and stop himself from becoming both invisible and intangible in that moment so he could sink unnoticed into the floor. A small part of his mind was coherent enough, and had enough awareness separate from the mortification to note that it was not as difficult as he might have expected. That same part of his mind put it down to the training giving him a greater control of his powers, and dropped the issue.

Back at the booth the rest of the Sky High gang were torn between laughing and gasping in shock—well, except for Zack, who tried to do both at the same time and began to choke on his own spit. The laughter was because Danny's face was priceless. Anybody who could spare attention away from what Warren was doing could notice that Danny was embarrassed out of his mind. The shock was because this obviously _wasn't_ planned out between them ahead of time.

While the rest of the establishment was stunned into immobility, the group made a hasty retreat, dragging Danny along behind them.

Outside, after they had made it down the street a ways, Layla, realizing that Will was too busy laughing to take care of the situation, decided to do it herself. She turned to Warren and demanded, "What were you thinking?!" However, the chastisement was ruined by the amusement leaking through.

"I just realized I needed a reason to be here every weekend with Danny to do you-know-what, and that provided the perfect excuse." Warren was hesitant to be more specific in a public area, no matter how alone they looked. It's not really paranoia if there really are people out to get you.

Danny finally came out of his stupor to exclaim, "We could have just told them that you are my tutor to get me caught up and to do that you had to come with me every weekend. It would have even been the truth!"

"We could use that too. It will be our background story to how we met. Every good lie ought to have some amount of truth. We don't want it to get too complicated," mused Warren.

Will calmed down from his gales of laughter long enough to explain with the kind of insight that guys can get with each other, "He just wanted a quick and easy way to make sure that the girls around here didn't hit on him. After all, he doesn't have the kind of reputation here that he did back home to keep people away at arms length at all times." With that said, he collapsed into laughter again.

It was this scene that Sam and Tucker came upon as they were heading towards the Nasty Burger. "Hey guys, what's going on?" Irrationally, Tucker's question set off another round of laughter from Will, Zack, Maj and Ethan.

* * *

Hint: Reviews are an author's life-blood.

AN: I'm sorry it's short. If I didn't stop here, there wouldn't have been a good stopping point for a while. There is only one more chapter for this summer then school should start. What do you think a good nickname for Warren to give Danny?


	12. Chapter 11: Rumor Weed

AN: I hope you enjoy the new chappie

AN: I hope the length made the wait worth-while. Can you see why I broke up the previous chapter and this one? I wanted to have this out by the Fourth of July (for those of you from the States like me), but sadly I forgot to e-mail it to my beta. Besides, I had to work out how I was going to get some of the scenes to fit together. I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review.

Thanks to SF123 for the beta. As always, any mistakes are mine, if you see any feel free to drop a line and tell me. Thanks also to Golden Feathers Edward, RHK, and anybody else who pitched in for their suggestions on what to use as a nickname for Danny.

Thanks to all my reviewers angel-phantom-babii, Thunderstorm101, Golden feathers Edward, Piece of Toast, A Fool With Hot Chocolate, NothingButTrouble. And my anonymous reviewers RHK, ieatfeet. RHK thank you for the suggestion for nicknames. ieatfeet I take that as a compliment.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 11: Repercussions/Rumor Weed

Sam was not happy to hear of the day's altercation. When she and Tuck went to the Nasty Burger to get lunch, the establishment was still buzzing about Danny's new 'boyfriend'; it looked like that his reputation as whole rose for openly having a boyfriend, an apparent 'bad boy' at that. It seemed that the most popular girls sans Paulina were sighing over the cute gay couple. Sam was sure she heard a boy mutter something that sounded suspiciously like "yaoi fan-girls".

Dash and Paulina were trying to laugh the whole thing off, but for once nobody was listening to them.

"I hate to break it to you," said Sam sarcastically after she and Tucker got back from their trip to get Nasty meals to go, "but it doesn't seem as if your ploy to keep girls away from you worked. In fact, it's safe to say you have fan-girls now."

* * *

For all their eagerness to meet each other, the two groups couldn't seem to agree on what to do or where to go. Danny even had time to go and fight off a new rogue ghost with a strange fascination with string then come back and still not have missed anything in the discussion. In the end they all decided to go where the one point of commonality resided: Fentonworks.

It had barely been an hour since the two groups met, decided on this and reached Fentonworks. As such, Danny was completely nonplussed when he got home and his mom rushed out of her lab toward him as if she was waiting for him crying out as she dragged him to the kitchen, "Sweetie, we just found out. Why didn't you tell us? You know we wouldn't have thought—wouldn't think any less of you because of this. We love you under any circumstances, you should know that."

"You knew?" questioned a nervous Danny, wondering if he had been indiscreet with his Phantom activities while a camera was about, "Um, how did you find out? I mean, what did you find out?"

"I have to say Danny I was pretty disappointed that we had to find out from the neighbors."

"I'm sorry mom, I'll try to do better in the future," Danny shuffled in place staring at his toes his mind running a mile a minute. On the one hand he was relieved that his mom and therefore his parents knew about his double identity now when there was no option to erase the memory to tempt him, but on the other hand he was trying to think up how to avoid the kind of press he had with the gauntlet incident at the beginning of the summer.

In a quiet tone Danny resumed the conversation, "So you're not disgusted or appalled or anything?"

"Of course not! I hope we never gave you the impression that we were closed minded bigots." Danny stared at his mom in confusion, a niggling suspicion forming in the back of his mind. "So why don't you introduce me properly to your young man? I understand he is one of the boys that came with you."

"I-I don't—I'm not—"

A peal of laughter interrupted Danny's stuttering attempts at denial. He span around to see one of two people (and of the two, probably the worst) who could make the situation even worse. "Now Danny, denial of such an integral part of your psyche could have damaging long-term effects on you mental health," smirked his sauntering older sister. "Why don't you introduce us to—" Danny was shocked stupid at what sounded like a _giggle_ coming from his older sister, "your _young man._"

"Your father will be out of the lab in just a few minutes. Then we can all go out to the living room together and you can introduce us properly."

Danny spent the next few fruitless minutes trying to convince his mom that it was all a bad joke on Warren's part. It seemed like nothing he could say or do would convince her of that reality. Not even the fact that they had already met would put the two women off. Apparently introducing someone as a friend and introducing someone as a boyfr—significant other were two different things. Go figure.

Jazz only made the situation worse. The one time she decided to develop a sense of humor and she used it to torment him mercilessly. Life was so unfair.

By the time Danny's dad joined them, Danny and formed a new plan of attack to convince his parents—because Jazz obviously knew the truth—he was just going to have to hope that Layla and Will didn't decide to torment him too.

* * *

By dinner time, Danny was convinced that the Mistress of Fate and Lady Luck were both irritated with him about something. Not only did Warren somehow convince Layla and Will that they should follow his crazy idea, but his parents completely ignored whatever he had to say about the whole matter.

To make it worse, Vlad turned up at the door just before dinner. Apparently he decided to come early for his birthday party which was supposed to be the next day.

"You know, Daniel, I could have flown you back on June 12th to Amity so you could have celebrated your birthday with your family on the actual date and then flown you right back."

"That's a great idea, Vladdy," said Jack cheerfully to him. "It's too bad we didn't think to ask you at the time. Maybe Danny can take you up on that later."

"Thanks but no thanks, Vlad," glared Danny back at him. "The last time I got on one of your planes, I ended up having to parachute into a ghost infested forest."

"Don't be silly Danny," chided his mom, "That wasn't one of Vlad's planes, that was one of the Dalv planes." She looked thoughtfully into the distance, "Though it _was_ a lucky coincidence that your vacationing cabin was there, wasn't it?"

Noticing a tenseness to the undercurrent of the conversation between Danny and Vlad, Warren decided to pitch-in in an effort to help, "Dan-honey, why don't you just admit that you don't want to be separated from me for so long?"

Both mortified and horrified at the nickname, Danny couldn't decide who was worse: Vlad for being himself (Which Danny could do nothing about due to their gentleman's agreement), or Warren for just _using_ a nickname in the first place—which also incidentally brought to mind his evil-older alter ego. Whoa. Try saying that five times fast. Deciding to be horrified, Danny shot a glare at Warren, "Don't—"

Warren saw Danny flinch a bit on the nickname, so he quickly backtracked after all he would have to work with him for the next year, "I'm sorry yōu ling, I'll try to be a bit more respectful of your sensibilities. I just didn't expect you to be so shy with your family."

"Oh, how sweet." Danny saw Warren cringe in turn at being called sweet by his mom. "Did you see that Jack. Our boy has such an adorable boyfriend. I'm just so happy that he felt he could share this with us."

"Yeah, Maddie," agreed Jack, speculatively, "Though I always thought he would end up with that spooky-ooky bat girl." Danny could feel the conversation slipping further and further away from him. How did he get into these kinds of situations? He might as well be a nonentity for all the attention they gave to him or his words.

"I'll admit that it came at a bit of a surprise," interjected Vlad, "I'm still coming to terms with it. Of course I can—and will extend the invitation to your boyf—" Vlad shuddered at his almost-use of the juvenile word, "I mean significant other."

Not allowing anyone else to speak for him—and possibly even accepting for him an invitation to his archenemy's grasp Danny spoke up quickly and decisively, "No, neither Warren nor will I be going anywhere on your plane." Danny glared at Vlad transmitting with his whole body the unspoken and underlying message _neither Warren nor I will fall into your trap, we will not allow ourselves to fall under your control._

* * *

The past three days had been hard on Danny. He had come to the unpleasant realization that if he wanted to keep a low profile, he would have to accept the cover story Warren had made up for them. This wasn't because he thought the cover was good, it was more that by continuing to deny the story he only brought more attention to them. Fudge buckets!

As it stands, he was being awaited downstairs by everyone so he could rejoin all of his closest friends and family at his belated birthday party.

"Danny!" called up Jack, "Come on down, it's time to open presents. I want you to open mine first so I can vicariously live through you."

"Sure dad," agreed Danny as he came down the stairs. "I was just coming back down anyway." He sat at the table, slightly awkward at having everyone staring at him while he waited for the first present to be given to him.

"Here, open it. I'm sure you'll love it." Jack's enthusiasm seemed to be contagious, since Danny found himself laughing as he opened the box. Inside there were a Jack Fenton T-shirt and hat.

"Eh, thanks dad. I really appreciate it."

"Don't thank me yet. I haven't told you what it does yet." Danny's mood dropped. _What it does?!_ He had a feeling he just lied to his dad in a major way about how he felt about the present. "They not only act as a shirt and hat but they also protect against ectoplasm. Kind of like Kevlar for ghosts. Cool huh?"

"Yeah, dad. Cool" weakly replied Danny.

"Go ahead and put it on."

"Maybe later," stalled Danny, his mind racing. Drat! He couldn't think of a good excuse, oh well. Diversionary tactics were in order then, "What present is next?"

Many presents later, Jack showed himself to be thoroughly distracted and living up to his threat of "living vicariously through Danny".

Danny got more clothes—normal this time, a few ghost hunting gadgets from his parents (Danny wryly predicted some extra training with Clockwork in the near future), some self-help books from Jazz, a PDA from Tuck and Sam (apparently he picked it out and she paid for it), and a lot of comic books that Danny had never heard of before from his Sky High friends. These were probably the comic series and editions that were available to heroes and their families that were actual histories cleverly disguised as entertainment but were actually learning aids that he had heard so much about. Those should help him understand the hero culture better.

Only one present left: Vlad's. With trepidation, Danny slowly opened the present under expectant stares to find… an empty box. No, wait. It wasn't empty. There were a few pieces of paper in the corner. Danny pulled the largest of the papers out first. It was an open-ended plane ticket for any time in the next month to Florida with a week-long itinerary to the John F. Kennedy Space Center. The other pieces of paper indicated the best at-home telescope that wasn't supposed to come on the market for another six months. "Happy birthday, Daniel. I hope you find your gifts enjoyable," murmured Vlad quietly to him. Danny looked up and saw Vlad looking intently at him.

It took a few more moments for Danny to get his brain back online. Wow. Those gifts… wow. But… what was Vlad planning? Danny knew he couldn't accept and tried in vain to think up a reason why he couldn't accept the gifts that his parents would accept. "Uh… thanks. I… umm…"

"Wow, Danny," interrupted Jazz. "That's a pretty good set of gifts you have there. It's too bad you can't accept that flight."

Danny felt the warring sensation of relief and annoyance. It might have been worth the risk to accept a flight from Vlad just so he could see the space station for children. "I can't? I mean, of course I can't." In an aside to Jazz, Danny asked quietly, "Why can't I?"

"Of course not," replied Jazz in a normal tone, "your new school will have started up again during that time and you can't miss any more of school. I mean, you're already behind. You don't want to get even further behind than you already are do you? Besides missing the beginning of school will not make the best of impressions on your new teachers."

"Oh, yeah. That's right."

"Oh, Danny. I'm so proud of you. Your father and I weren't too happy about you going to school so far away, but now were glad you found such a good school to bring out your best potential."

While Maddie was still talking, Danny left quietly and unobtrusively from the room. Only Sam and Warren seemed to notice, everyone else overwhelmed by Maddie's enthusiasm. After a quiet argument Sam let Warren go after him, but not before leaving a parting message, "You and I need to talk. Badly. Got it?"

"Sure. But not right now. I need to go check on my partner."

Sending him a searching look, Sam nodded, "You'll probably find him either in the Op Center or on its roof. Good Luck."

* * *

Warren found him eventually right where Sam told him. He approached him carefully and asked softly, "Why were you upset?"

"Because every one of his gifts are things that I have always wanted, but never had the chance to get," replied Danny not showing any other indication that he noticed Warren's presence.

Warren thought carefully and sat down next to Danny, looking off into the distance. "So… you don't like them because they're thoughtful and perfect for you."

"Exactly."

"That doesn't make sense."

"You wouldn't understand," sighed Danny. He got up and indicated he wanted to go back inside.

* * *

Sam was worried about Danny, but she was smart enough not to make a big ruckus about it. So, the next day she went quietly to the Fenton residence and covertly searched for Warren. "We need to talk."

She saw how Warren looked her over carefully before accepting. She led him out of the modified townhouse to the park. Still no words had been spoken between the two besides the initial four. Once they reached the park, she continued to lead him to a more secluded area and abruptly spun around to look at him. "What exactly do you think you're doing?"

"I thought I was following you."

"Don't be such a smart-aleck. Do you have any idea what you've done to Danny's reputation? Danny told us all about how you were supposed to be partnered together for the next year, but what about after that?"

"I'm sorry. I just wanted a cover story and poke a little bit of fun at those… kids at the Nasty Burger. Besides, I wanted a reason to keep those piranhas away."

"Well congratulations. You did a great job of that!" exclaimed Sam sarcastically, feeling frustration rising in her.

"I know it backfired a little bit, but it served its purpose."

"Purpose?! To do what? Make Danny's life miserable?"

"No," Warren patiently explained, "it gave people a 'scandal' for people to think on so they don't dig for a better scandal among the new visitors to the Fenton house while all the while allowing those same people to get used to seeing us together. A better reason than just tutoring that is. I mean really, how long will people accept that an advanced school has accepted a kid that needs tutoring for so long?"

Sam had to accept the logic of the argument, "So what exactly are your intentions toward Danny?" She smirked at what the question implied.

Warren smirked back, "I assure you, my intentions are completely honorable."

They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Warren took the initiative to ask a question that had bothered him since he saw Danny's interaction with the other Fenton guest, Vlad. "So, what exactly is the deal with Vlad? What makes Danny do wary of him?"

Sam thought carefully about the question. Making a decision she said carefully, "That's something you need to ask Danny if you really want to know. They have a lot of history, but it's his story. I think you know that, though. Why ask?"

"It was worth a try," shrugged Warren, acting as if he wasn't disappointed.

* * *

Hint: Reviews feed the author's soul.

AN: I'm sorry; I had to put in the obligatory misunderstanding scene. That's what makes it obligatory. Summer's over, time to get back to the grind for the characters. I know there wasn't a whole lot of anybody but Warren and Danny, but they're there, they just didn't have anything important to contribute. Know that they are very amused.

John F. Kennedy Space Center : For more information you can visit www . kennedyspacecenter. com / They really do have a space program for kids.

Dan-honey—from Golden Feathers Edward

yōu ling—from RHK; meaning: specter; apparition; ghost


	13. Chapter 12: Long Awaited

AN: This chapter should address the issue of Warren's high-handed behavior. I'm surprised nobody commented on Vlad. I hope you enjoy the new chappie. Please read and review.

Thanks to all my reviewers Piece of Toast, Golden feathers Edward, Thunderstorm101, PrincessVictoriaAnnMacbeth, A Fool With Hot Chocolate, DeAD oN SIghT, hisokauzumaki, darkangelwp05, chalicity, Stalker of Stories.

Thanks to SF123 for the beta.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High. Eventual slash… but not anytime soon.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 12: Long Awaited

~*~*~*~*~*~--

They were on their way back to Maxville and Danny was no closer to any sort of resolution. It had been impossible for Danny to get Warren alone so they could discuss what Warren did back in Amity. For some reason or another one of his parents always showed up when Danny thought he had Warren alone to talk. What did they think he was going to do? Not going there.

Barring the few times Danny had been too upset about one thing or another to have a reasonable conversation, they hadn't had a chance to have a private conversation.

It seemed that Warren knew that they needed to talk too because about a half hour outside of Amity, he pulled over to let Will drive and sat in the back of the van with Danny. The others, trying to give them privacy, squished into the front and turned the music up loudly while having an… animated conversation about nothing in particular.

Danny paid them no mind. He was only relieved that they would get a chance to speak "privately". Never mind that it wasn't really private and that everyone already knew what they were going to talk about. Now all he really needed to do was figure out how to start the darn conversation!

"Hey," said Warren.

"Hey."

"So, we really didn't get a whole lot of time to talk the past week."

Danny felt a pang of regret. In all the running around trying to speak privately with Warren, he didn't get a whole lot of time to spend with Sam an Tuck either. "Nope," he replied morosely. He just hoped they understood. Sure they had e-mail and phone calls, but this wasn't the same as actually hanging out. He'd just have to be extra careful to call and e-mail often. "I didn't appreciate you telling everybody we were dating. When this," Danny waved a hand between the two of them, "is over, it'll be a bit difficult for me."

"So what? I don't get what the big deal is. At worst they'll think you experimented a bit. No biggie."

"No Warren," sighed Danny. He had several days to think this over while plotting to get alone with Warren and after overcoming the urge to tear out his hair he eventually thought it might have been something like this. "It would be no biggie in the hero community. Remember how I've had to study hero culture because it's different? Well maybe they should have you guys study the non-hero culture too."

Warren sat back to absorb what Danny was obliquely telling him, "Oh."

"Yes, 'oh'. I've noticed none of you got a lot of the pop cultural references when we were in Amity. So how about this: you will obviously have to keep tutoring me in the hero culture, and I will try to teach you about the non-hero culture. As it is, all of you kind of stood out in Amity," Danny paused here, blushing a little, "actually Sam pointed it out to me. I didn't really notice it at the time. You didn't stand out a whole lot since I didn't pick up on it, but it was enough that people noticed there was something different about you."

"Like what?"

"Nothing big, just small things that people might not notice consciously. Like…" Danny trailed off drawing a blank. He had been too wound up to notice much—"Oh, I know? Like when Ethan didn't even pretend to be scared when Dash was trying to intimidate him, or when you grabbed the skillet off the stove with your hand."

"So what? Ethan doesn't have to kowtow to some bully, and what did you expect from me? The eggs were burning."

"_Normal_ 'weak' and 'scrawny' boys would at least be intimidated by a boy three times his size, and the skillet handle was made of cast-iron like the rest of it and should have burned you hand off. We're lucky that Dash is not very bright and that my parents tend to be too preoccupied with their inventions to be too aware of their surroundings—unless it has to do with ghosts in some way. Besides none of you have ever heard of any popular bands like _Dumpty Humpty_! Even my parents have heard of them," cried out Danny, truly offended to the depths of this teenager soul.

"Ok, I can deal with that. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind either. As informative as it has been, I'm sure this little non-sequitur isn't what you wanted to talk to me about."

Danny sighed, "Yeah, but the other issue isn't so easily resolved. We can't take your words back without attracting a whole lot of attention in one way or another. At this point I just ask that you talk to me about the public side of our 'relationship' before announcing it? At least there will be no more surprises. We'll also have to contrive a public break-up sometime too," mused Danny.

"Yeah, we ought to do that, but not too soon or too suddenly. We want it to be reasonable that we would still be friends afterward."

"That sounds as fair as we can get it."

They sat in silence for a bit longer. "You've really thought this over haven't you?"

"I've had all week," growled Danny, giving the lie to his formerly calm countenance. He paused, seeing Warren working himself up to something.

"Until recently, I've been mostly a loner," he broke off trying to put his thoughts into words, carefully selecting each phrase, "Also, I've never been much of a follower. I guess I'm trying to say that I'm still learning how to modify my behavior to include others and to think of their reactions. However, I'm not so arrogant that I can't accept criticism."

Danny turned his body fully around to stare at Warren for a few seconds. "Apology accepted," he said as he sat back again in the seat. And that was that.

~*~*~*~*~*~--

Danny spent the next half hour of the drive back trying to unwind from all of the stress that having his new friends over caused. The others in the van had also ceased their faux conversation in the front of the van and spread out.

By the time they were halfway back to Maxville Danny had relaxed enough to be curious. After agonizing for a few minutes over everyone's reaction to his hometown, he realized he was worrying over something easily solved. "So, what did you think of Amity?" There was a pause at the sudden question out of seemingly nowhere. "And the ghosts?" Danny added in as an afterthought.

Perhaps because he is so random himself, Zack was the first to recover enough of his wits to respond. "Hey, it was awesome! I really liked Wulf. Your classmates were so not cool though. They needed to take a chill pill."

"Zack's right," chipped in Ethan. "It was fun. Amity was very different from Maxville though. But we'd have to get used to that when we get our assignments when we graduate."

Danny could see the others showing various signs of agreement. "Maybe we could do it again," suggested Layla. "Your parents were very nice. And I thought you were lucky to have someone like your sister."

"Yeah, I'm sure it made it a lot easier to go heroing when you had your sister on your side," commented Will.

"Psh," snorted Magenta, "She seemed to be too overenthusiastic to be of much help. She seems like the kind of person to get so caught up in helping that she'd get in the way. Am I right, Danny?"

"Kinda. Just after I found out that she knew—"

"Wait a minute, 'found out that she knew'! What happened?"

"Which part do you want to hear first? The two events were separated by months." Releasing the rest of the tension he didn't know he had, Danny settled in to tell the story of how his sister found out his identity and later her subsequent attempts at helping him and bad puns.

~*~*~*~*~*~--

The gang had seemingly gathered together by random chance as far as Warren could tell, except that these were the same people who had been giving him askance looks since they arrived. What were the chances that they all just so happened to decide to visit Will at the same time that Warren did…

"Warren, what a coincidence meeting you here," called out Layla. Yep, definitely planned. "Since you're here with us, I was wondering a few things."

With a slight feeling of dread, Warren sat down, "Okay, with what can I help you?"

Layla nudged Maj. Oh, yes. There was not a snowball's chance in Hades that this was all coincidence. "We were wondering about Vlad..."

Flatly, and a little bit angrily Warren finished for her, "You wanted to know about Danny and why he was so hostile toward Vlad, a close family friend?"

"Exactly," agreed Layla happily.

Will spoke up to support his ex-girlfriend (though not as ex as they could be thought Warren), "What can you tell us about that?"

Getting into the swing of things, Ethan decided to pitch in his two cents, "What has Danny been telling you about him. What's the history behind that?"

Leaning forward, Warren spoke softly. The others leaned in as if to listen to a secret. "Well... I can't tell you." The rest of the group groaned.

"Why not man?" questioned Zack. "You've been friends with us ages longer than with him."

Warren was starting to get angry. They should know better than that. "First of all, you are asking me about information that Danny may or may not have given me in confidence. It wouldn't matter how much longer we were friends, it would be a betrayal to the trust he would have shown me _if_ he did tell me anything. Second, as I am currently partnered with him his secrets about this are also my secrets unless I have his permission, you _know_ that."

The others looked down unified in shame. Ethan, quick thinker that he was, spoke up in an effort to change the topic. "We really need to decide on a name for ourselves if we're really going to form a group," said Ethan.

"Well, if you guys are really planning to keep me, I have some family traditions that I'm not willing to break," Warren warned, allowing the change of topic. Contrary to his reputation, he never liked situations of high tension. Probably something vestigial he inherited from his mother.

"Like what? I didn't think the Peace family had any kind of long-standing traditions," mused Will glad for the reprieve. He sat back in the chair.

"No, but the Battle family does. My hero name and anybody working with me with the intent of forming a permanent partnership needs to have a Greek hero name. Our group name needs to be Greek too."

"Really? I'm cool with that. How do you say 'Zack-attack' in Greek?"

"Yeah, if you thought about it, you should have known," replied Warren, ignoring Zack's last sentence. "Like when my mom was married to my dad she went by Eirene (1), but before and after she went by Peacemaker."

"So," deliberated Will, "if we're going to do this, we'd all need to follow that tradition?"

"No, you don't have to. Of course, I wouldn't be able to be part of the scheme you're cooking up."

"Why do you care about Battle traditions anyway?" queried Magenta.

"Because, oh small and furry one, even though my dad was an ass, I'm still a part of the Battle family. There's a lot of hero politics involved. If I were to snub that tradition, they could make my life and my mother's very difficult. Spurned egos would be the least of it."

Layla sat up quickly, "Why doesn't Danny have to change his name? I mean you still work together."

"Because it is only temporary. There's no point in him having to change his public name only to have him change it back in less than a year."

~*~*~*~*~*~--

To:

From:

Dude! You'll never guess what happened. Sam and Jazz are getting along. I don't have time to get into it now, but I just needed to tell you.

Later,

Tuck

~*~*~*~*~*~--

Hint: Reviews are the midwife to updates.

AN: Sorry for the long time between updates. I had originally planned to have this chapter longer, but RL has been busy between school, work and trying to maintain something resembling a personal life (I've more or less given up on being social as useless at this point). Besides, my muse has learned to hibernate during times of high stress to avoid my committing homicide against her. She comes back out when my stress levels drop. I've decided to go ahead and post what I had so far. I don't know when I'll next update, but I hope it'll be in the next couple of weeks since that is my very short window between now and my next set of "midterms" and finals.

(1) Eirene—Goddess of peace and season of spring (obviously the last bit does not apply)


	14. Chapter 13: A New Life

AN: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while and that this is so short, school ate my life. Speaking of updating, good grief! How do you guys find my story when I haven't updated in over three months? I plan on updating quite a bit this summer. If I don't feel free to send me angry reviews or PMs this summer to motivate me. I fixed some mistakes pointed out to me by Stalker of Stories. Thanks!

Also, I've gotten some PMs and reviews asking me to not make the story slash. There will be hints and teases but nothing more concrete. If that bothers anyone, please don't read this. I never planned on making any explicit scenes anyway. There was never going to be heavy groping, making out on the couch or sex.

Modification to Danny's explanation in Mad Science on 06/07/09.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter. Please read and review.

Thanks to all my reviewers Stalker of Stories, Merklin, Thunderstorm101, Ladyroo88, Golden feathers Edward, Miriam1, Kage Kaze Kitsune, digiwriter1392, Lilac Dezzy, VickyVicarious, core of stone, and A Bibliophile.

Thanks to SF123 for the beta.

Disclaimer: Neither Danny Phantom nor Sky High belong to me.

Summary: Some things just shouldn't be changed, and some things can't be changed. If they are it must be set to rights. This is a crossover with Sky High.

Redemption: (noun) 1. An act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed. 2. Deliverance; rescue. 3. Recovery by payment, as of something pledged. 4. Paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note. 5. Atonement for guilt.

Chapter 13: A New Life

~*~*~*~*~*~--

Danny stared at his computer screen in disbelief. He shook his head, got up and looked out the window for signs of the apocalypse. Nope, the world wasn't ending. Yet. It was only a matter of time.

He just received an e-mail from his sister detailing how much fun she had with Sam the past weekend. Sam and Jazz were getting along. Unbelievable. Maybe he fell into an alternate reality…

No, he knew what that felt like. Definitely the real one. He couldn't ask his parents, they wouldn't understand. Asking girls about this kind of stuff could get tricky—you never know what they'll take offence at. Maybe Tuck would know what in the name of frozen popsicles was going on.

He got up to look around his room, not quite used to the new set-up. "My phone, where did I put my phone?" he muttered to himself. "Oooh, here it is," he triumphed. Staring in somber dismay at his phone, he remembered he took Tuck off of his speed dial. Making a note to keep a better touch with his friends in Amity than he did this past summer, he quickly dialed Tucker's number.

"Hello, Danny."

Foregoing the usual pleasantries Danny exclaimed, "What in the world is going on with Jazz and Sam? When did they start getting along?"

"Around the same time Desiree, Kat and that weird psychologist ghost from last year attacked the town and made all of the men disappear."

A small part of Danny's mind registered the slightly cold tone in Tuck's voice but he discarded it as less important to the conversation. "I thought ghosts were not supposed to attack Amity for a year, I—"

"You hadn't left yet," cut in Tucker curtly, "This was when you and your dad went on a fishing trip just before you left. You just didn't notice then, nor did you notice last week when you were here." Danny wanted to protest but couldn't really find it in himself to be able to do it honestly. "Look, is that all you wanted to talk to me about? 'Cause if it is, I've got some stuff to do for my parents."

Danny put his cell down. When did his life get so out of control that he didn't even notice what was going on with his family and closest friends?

He made a firm decision to fix this problem, just as soon as he got his supplies together for the new Fall term. He felt jittery inside every time he thought about it. Going to school with the kids of today's finest superheroes.

~*~*~*~*~*~--

Danny sat in Recent Mad Science class absently putting together a heat ray for Mr. Medulla. After all of the extra lessons studying his parents' inventions, it was not too difficult to apply what he learned in this class.

Even though he tested out of Foundations of Mad Science, Mr. Medulla would not believe that anyone was able to adequately know or build anything without his having taught it unless he saw it for himself.

The end result of this was a very bored Danny left to a very basic ray design. Everyone else in the class was building a dual ray. With the flip of a switch you could have either a freeze ray or a heat ray, a feat previously thought to be impossible by most of the ray building community.

Danny morosely thought about the day before, idly tinkering with his ray, trying to get it to be more efficient. Where had the day gone with his good intentions. He never did get around to calling Tuck or Sam. He was making good friends here with Magenta, Warren and the others, but was it really too much to ask that he keep his old friends too?

"Mr. Fenton!" Danny cringed. Even though they did not sound or look the same, Mr. Medulla reminded Danny strongly of Mr. Lancaster, especially the highly disapproving and triumphant look of having caught a student doing what he is not supposed to be doing. "You have this all wrong. Wrong I say. The polarity needs to be rotated a further positive twenty-six degrees. Otherwise it won't affect your target at all."

"Yes, sir, but—" Danny tried to interrupt so he could explain. However, Mr. Medulla was having none of it.

"And what is this device? This is not part of the instructions. It looks to be some sort of energy converter and a faulty one at that! There is no way for it to hold a charge. How do you expect to defeat your opponents with this? Well?!?"

Danny took a deep breath trying to calm down. He wasn't sure whether he loved this class or hated it. Mr. Medulla loved to both ridicule him and praise him as a prized student, as if he had anything to do with what Danny already learned. He gathered his thoughts together and pulled the vocabulary Clockwork made him learn until it was almost second nature. "Well sir, the polarity was deliberately placed to be able to affect ghosts since those would be my primary opponents. As it is right now, it is only twenty percent effective since this polar module was not designed to be attempted against ectoplasmic beings. In truth it needs to be recalibrated an additional six degrees in the positive x direction, a negative eighteen degrees in the y direction and a negative thirteen in the z direction. But I have pushed this one as far as it will go to be best effective against ghosts. Besides, what affects ghosts tends to also affect the living in general. What I just mentioned was my parents' invention where the blast is harmless against normal items and people and all of its effectiveness hits spectral beings."

Danny stopped here to gauge Mr. Medulla's reaction to his explanation so far. Heartened, Danny continued. "As for this device, it is a modified ectoplasmic energy converter, originally of my parent's design. Originally it was designed to take ectoplasmic energy and convert it into electrical energy then store it to be used later—preferably against other ghosts. I've modified it to not hold a charge so that if I were to be using this in a battle and it was knocked out of my hand it could not be used against me by mortal or non-mortal. I've calibrated it so that it will accept only my energy as opposed to generic ectoplasmic energy."

Mr. Medulla nearly bounced in excitement. As it was he only twitched. But it was a very telling twitch. "I see, this way what happened to Electric Glow this summer when Necrotic stole his weapon and used it against him wouldn't be able to happen to you. Ingenious. See class, you should take the initiative like Mr. Fenton here has done." Danny could see that he had suddenly become Mr. Medulla's favorite student again. What are the symptoms that people show when they are bipolar again?

"Yes sir. But also many regular people fear ghosts and by extension me. I don't want to have to worry about both the villain I am suppose to be fighting and the civilians on the ground trying to attack me if I lose any one of my weapons."

The class shifted in consternation, whispering among themselves. Perfect, another thing that set him apart from the other students. Besides the friends he made this summer, nobody wanted to even approach him. It was like he was some sort of pariah for not having any sort of direct hero lineage, for being allowed to show up to _their_ school sophomore year, for… Danny didn't know what. In fact he wasn't even sure if Will and the others were his friends or if they were just taking pity on him.

Danny just sighed and continued on with the next assignment and reminded himself that this was all necessary so he could better protect his town and be legitimate in both the ghost and hero community. It was just hard to remember why Clockwork placed him here while he was drowning in this total social isolation.

~*~*~*~*~*~--

"Warren?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever inherit any powers from your mom, or are they all latent?"

"Could you imagine how formidable a level 8 telepathic pyrokinetic would be? Remember 1 is a barely there power, sidekicks are usually levels 1 through three. A level 10 is described in the handbook as 'Holy smoke fires!' That way anyone with a power level above a certain strength regardless of their power level compared to each other will always be classified as 'Holy smoke fires'"

"…So, is that a no?"

"No."

"Well?"

"I actively inherited my mom's secondary ability. The ability to learn and understand languages easily."

"Is that like Will's strength and flying?"

"No, those are two primary abilities. They are both active and easily seen and measured by others. Secondary powers cannot be proven by any amount of observation. Technically I could pass off the secondary power as being a kind of savant with languages. Actually, a lot of civilians have secondary abilities, they are just usually classified as geniuses in their fields. For some reason, secondary powers are disproportionately rare in heroes—probably because so much emphasis is put on the primary ones rather than there actually being a lack of them, or maybe the primary powers overwhelm the secondary. Of course, that's all speculation. If you look in your _Genetics for Dummies_ chapter they go in a lot more detail than I would ever want to. You could always read that if you want to know more."

"I'm pretty sure you covered all the best parts."

"You still don't really get it do you?"

"Will you get mad if I said not really? I mean, it makes sense, but I'm sure I'll get back to the Strongholds' place and my brain will turn to mush just trying to understand."

"Basically, it's _active_ when the superhero has to consciously power up like most of your ghost powers, it's _passive_ when it's there all the time or it kicks in on its own, like your ghost sense. In general though, active powers tend to be more useful for _active_ crime fighting, and passive powers aren't. Like my language ability. It's actually where the labels originally started.

"Of course, just because a power is passive doesn't make it any less dangerous. One of my mom's relatives, Prophet Auger, had a passive precognitive ability. Her powers are classified as a level 10. It originally was a 4, but as she grew older it became stronger and stronger until she was physically in a catatonic state. Not even psychics were able to access her mind before she passed away completely."

"Wow. That must have been pretty hard on the family."

"Yeah, it probably was, but since it happened about 150 years ago, it doesn't really mean much to us now except as a cautionary tale not to underestimate passive powers."

"I bet," concurred Danny. "Warren?" At his grunt of acknowledgement Danny continued, "I just wanted to clarify that I can access all of my powers all of the time, it just makes it easier if I power up." Danny shrunk under the glare Warren was tossing his way. "But it makes perfect sense now," he hurriedly added on not wanting to ask the question of what that would mean for the classification of his powers any longer.

~*~*~*~*~*~--

Hint: Reviews are the nectar of the flower that is updates. (Does this one make sense?)


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